Innumerable Fits
by Riakai
Summary: Hisao's entry into Yamaku is hijacked by Naomi and Natsume, along with the rest of the Newspaper Club. Hisao's POV, Naomi Inoue pseudo-route. (Re-uploaded from the Renai.)
1. Act 0: Prologue

Days spent in the same spot, unmoving, wear on a person. The pale, sickly green color of the walls, supposedly calming, do nothing but put me in a bad, honestly terrible mood these days. I plow through these books on a daily basis, supposedly in attempt to calm myself . Hell, I can't even make myself come to believe such a lie anymore.

It's a routine. The television didn't do much, so I stopped watching it. It was lively for a few, brief weeks. This mucus stained box was filled with "Get Well Soon" cards, balloons, and shots of both standard and extravagant flower bouquets. She showed up for a few weeks, maybe a month or so, the visits briefer with every passing day, but eventually stopped coming altogether. By the end, we didn't talk. There was nothing to say. She tried to catch me up me in her niche gossip, but I stayed silent. She informed me on new developments in her life and in all things otherwise, but still she did not pique my interest. I couldn't even bring myself to say thanks. Simple silence reigned supreme over that room of mine.

It's no wonder Iwanako stopped showing up: I never gave her a reason to keep coming.

A nurse stepped in, giving me a solemn nod, no more, no less. She closed the curtains as night crept upon us, whisking away my food, an entire meal practically left untouched. She sighs, throwing a wrapper into a corner garbage can. A basket made, maybe that's why she left grinning. I can't say that I gave her a proper reason.

Moments later, I'm burying myself into the itchy warmth of the cotton hospital blanket, staring idly at the ceiling. I count the small jutting growths of the popcorn, some sort of cockamamie retelling of counting sheep.

Another faceless nurse comes into my room, pulling open the curtains. This time she lays down another tray. I take the juice from it and sip slowly, placing it back down and pulling the book from my nightstand. Without even looking at the title, I start reading rather quickly. Losing track of time in the adventures of a miscellaneous pirate, my lull is interrupted by the sound of harsh footsteps and my door all but kicking open.

My parents step in, with the doctor trailing behind. We all exchange greetings, generic questions like, "How do you feel? Any pain?", and other such things. Small talk with no meaning other than simple ascertaining of questions they could all find out from looking at the chart at the edge of the hospital bed.

The doctor and my parents talk with each other, their voices filled with delight. I listen for a bit, making out words like academy and medication, but nothing substantial. It becomes easy to zone out again, my thoughts drifting around from the pirate book I read earlier, to my old friends.

I mean, I call them old at this point at least. They stopped showing up earlier than Iwanako did. Not much to talk about, especially considering how little I do. All we used to do was go to the arcade and play soccer. I haven't touched a soccer ball in forever, and I obviously haven't managed to break out to play any sort of arcade game. I've been stuck in my bed. I don't blame them, it's not like I'm exceedingly interesting, especially now.

Apparently done talking, the three walk over to me, bursting with grins, smiles, and all sorts of happiness.

"Hisao, we have great news for you!" The doctor motions to the chairs in front of the hospital bed, my parents both taking a seat quickly, "I believe, with assistance, you're ready to resume your life properly once more." He hands my parents a clipboard, their expressions going grim immediately, "Here's the ahh, assistance. Arrhythmia is a hard to pin down disease."

"There's... there's so many.. I..." My dad places his face in his hands, muttering into them as if they'll provide him some solace.

"Ah... yes, that is true... But, with hope and research, the list will almost definitely dwindle over the years. We'll need to obviously take close watch on your medication, bringing us to the next order of business, so to speak."

The doctor paces around a bit, tapping the tail of his coat with the back of his hand idly, "You're able to attend school again, Hisao; this much I've already discussed with your parents. Your heart is recovering extremely well. "

I immediately push myself up from the bed, propping myself up with my arms, drawing a quick hand gesture with a sigh of resignation from the doctor, "So I can go back to my old school, then?" I say, staring at him with ravenous eyes.

My mom glances toward me and shakes her head very slowly. I fall back into the bed as quickly as I rose, "So, what? Home schooling?" My mom shakes her head again.

"There's a school in particular we had in mind already, we're all sure you'll love it. It's called Yamaku Academy, it's a great place. You'd stay on campus, plus there's a 24-hour nursing staff on the off chance something does go wrong. One of my coworkers graduated from there, so I'm sure you can go on to do great things, even with your new limitations."

That's just a real nice way to say they're keeping me caged in. Even if the cage is massive in comparison, it's still a cage. The way he sounds, though, I doubt I've got much of a choice in the whole matter. They've already got me accepted by now. It's not like it'll be that bad. Maybe it'll be fun. It's not like living in the dorms will be anything new, considering how often mom and dad are out for work. I already took care of myself.

"Sure." One word to send them into near hysterics, I suppose. I bury myself back into the blanket and mutter some goodbyes before drifting off again, shrugging myself into the thick and scratchy cotton. I let the world blur.


	2. Act 1: Leftist Perspectives

Day of the big reveal. My parents drop me off at the gate, having already delivered my bags to my room. Considering how late I'm already running, I think I'll shirk going to check on it. I glance over the gate, it's ostentatious wrought iron glancing back. The red brick and white plaster all paint a contemplative picture. I take a quick step through the ajar frame, looking over my shoulder when I pass.

The grounds are just as green as the room I stayed in for months. The green coloring is just... serene. Yet it manages to make me feel so uneasy. I take wavering steps, examining the grounds as I do.

Amidst my thought, I do figure out why the gate was so off. It was my last chance to turn around. To leave before I began. At this point, I've already went too far. No turning back now.

I swing open the door with a sigh; the lobby is empty save for one person. An older man with scarce stubble crossing his gaunt face. He wears a suit jacket that seems to fit him more than he fits him. Inevitably, we cross stares

"Ah... Nak...Nik...Nikai?" He stammers, looking me up and down quickly before putting his hands in his pockets, worsening his already terrible posture.

"Nakai."

"Ah.. Right. We're already running late, so your check in with the nurse will have to do later. I'm sure he'll understand. I'm Mutou by the way." He checks his watch before looking back to me, "So, I'm assuming you'll want to introduce yourself to the class?"

What? Why would I even want to at this point? I shake my head no, "Ah, not exactly my thing. Talking in front of crowds, that is."

"Fair enough, let's get to class then."

His pace matches his posture, near hobble-like in design. When we hit the stairs, he jogs up them quickly. I start to take a normal pace, but when I hit the second flight I had already lost my breath. Mutou pauses, opening his mouth and closing it just as quick. Upon catching my breath, I give him a thumbs up and take myself up the stairs at a much slower pace.

We reach the door of the classroom, 3-3. I step in behind Mutou, furtively darting my eyes across the varied figures in the massive room. All but two of the walls are chalkboards, and the ceiling is at least eight feet tall. The variation is obscene here. Bright hair colors, braced knees, missing hands, and canes all highlight the room. Of course, being the social butterfly I am, I zone out Mutou even as he talks explicitly about me.

After some odd claps, I slowly move to Mutou.

"We'll be working in groups today, Nakai, I figure this will be a good opportunity to talk to people and get acquainted. You can work with Hakamichi, the class representative. She can answer any questions you may have." He turns back to the board, shuffling off to his desk and burying himself into a pile of papers quickly. After a quick look up, he points to a pink drilled girl with a bubbly appearance.

I step slowly towards her, one hand on the back of my neck and the other in my pocket, "Hi, I'm uh, Hisao Nakai. Nice to meet you, Hakamichi."

"Wahaha~!"

Huh? Do I really sound so funny?

"It's nice to meet you too, but I'm Misha!"

Staring at the desk with a dejected stare, I notice the girl behind her tapping her furiously on the shoulder, before breaking into measured, but slashing, gesticulations. She has blue hair, with glasses leveled against a dainty nose.

"She's Hakamichi, Hichan!"

Oh. That well, that makes sense. But I've never even liked that name… Hichan.

"You look like you swallowed a snail…!" She smiles excessively, attempting to stifle her laughing but breaking out into it anyways, reverberating the room with the belligerent laughter. "Wahahahah~! Hichan, you're funny."

Hakamichi continues swiping through the air with her long hands, looking to Misha with a confused stare. Filling in the blanks, Misha points out, "Hakamichi is far too formal, just call her Shizune~!"

"Oh, uh, hi Shizune." The use of that nickname, however, draws a bright red blush out of her cheeks, sending Shichan into a fit of swooping hand gestures, "Fine, fine, just call her Shizune at least. And call me Misha!"

Right, Shizune and Misha. Weird pair, but not exactly appalling.

Shizune slaps Misha on the side, slashing her hands harshly, nearly cutting the air in half with their ferocity, "So, uh.. With the hands? What exactly-"

"Wahaha! I guessed you were cute, but I didn't know you were dumb!"

"I... Huh?"

"She's deaf and mute, Hichan, jeez. She's using sign language, not karate chopping me!"

I groan, planting my face down on the windowsill, sliding myself into a desk with a slow plop. Shizune stifles a laugh with her hand, immediately stopping the second my eyes landed on her. She signs to Misha, who signs back, entering a loop. Upon a sudden epiphany, Shizune glows bright red with angst, pointedly towards Misha, who jolts and briefly knocks against her desk. Basically the entire class turns to me, eyes drilling into the back of my head.

The three of us all turn to our desks, exchanging looks between each other and the paper. Needless to say, my time spent in the hospital has dragged on me. I barely can help at all.

Misha and Shizune end up steam rolling the assignment considerably before the bell.

"We could've done better, Hichan! Even though we did do quite a bit... You should learn to pull your weight!" I sigh, a resigned shrug leaving my shoulders.

"I feel like I did plenty, considering my circumstances. Besides, we finished before the bell, it's not a contest by a long shot."

Shizune immediately darts her finger into the air, waggling it rapidly, Misha chiming in for her, "That's where you're wrong, Hichan! Everything is a contest." Glancing at Shizune, and then the window, and the back to Shizune, I find the window much less argumentative.

"Hichan, don't ignore me now... That's a mean thing to do to a girl.."

"I don't get how not completing a paper before anyone else is a thing to get agitated over. Or disappointed." I turn back to them, a frown plastered across my face, "Sorry."

"Apology accepted, meanie."

As if heralding my escape, the bell rings loudly. I grab my things from the desk, not giving an opportunity for response before hurrying out of the classroom. Blending into a group of people, I follow the ebb and flow of the crowd. I manage to eventually reach the cafeteria, breaking free of the blob.

I step into the line, staring at the tiles of the floor. Grabbing a piece of bread and a bottle of water at random, I move out of the line and take a seat at a table near the window. A pair of girls that I recognize sit down soon after, leaning on their elbows and glancing at me.

I take a long drink of my juice and sit it down, "...What?"

"So, mind if I call you Hisao?" The girl with short, blonde hair grins, her eyes shining bright through the thin rimmed glasses.

"Uh, yeah. I mean, go for it." I shrug, drawing out a giggle from the pair, "What's your guys' names, then? And what made you sit here, of all places?"

This time, the brown haired girl chimes in, "I'm Natsume, she's Naomi. You looked bored and sad, plus you obviously don't seem a big fan of the president and her salt drill." This brings forth a grin from myself and a belligerent laugh from Naomi, who yelps and stares at the floor moments later.

"Yeah, they're uh... Yeah. Tad too competitively loud for me, I guess."

Another voice pops in from behind, "How many times did they ask you to join their circus of insanity?" A voice too deep to be a girl's, hopefully. He sits down next to me, grinning at Natsume and Naomi widely. His tray clinks against the table, taking to eating a bowl of ramen with no further discussion.

"Circus? They only asked me to work on the paper." I shrug, taking a hunk out of my bread and biting into it with a content nod, "I mean, they're probably better outside of w-"

Natsume shakes her head vehemently, "No, no they're not. And Yuu was referring to the Student Council. Shizune's the class president, Misha being her sidekick. And only other member of the council. They like to try and rope people into their work, it's not fun."

Yet another takes a seat, this time diagonally of Yuu. She sits down with nothing but a can of coffee. Her hair shines a bright, obviously dyed, crimson. She plants her face in a notebook and begins scribbling what can only be words, raising nothing but a hand to everyone else, waving idly before planting itself against the table in a show of vehemence.

I raise my finger in the air slowly, starting to form one word, "What.", which draws Naomi, Natsume, and Yuu to shake their heads violently.

We all eat in silence, until the red haired girl slowly stands, closing her notebook and laughing softly to herself, "I finished the story, gu- Who's he?" She points directly at me, visually clamping up.

"He's Hisao. Hisao, meet Ayao. She's a writer for the Newspaper Club. We're all their members, by the way. Except for Yuu, he's a bore. He runs track. He's also hopelessly in l-" Natsume answers for me, before I can even open my mouth and is interrupted by a short exchange of thumps, heard from under the table, followed by sharp 'Ouches' from Natsume and Yuu.

"Ah, right, so, thanks for the company I suppose?" I glance around awkwardly, trying to find a clock.

"We've still got a few minutes, don't go running off yet. You just looked lonely." Naomi grins, holding a book in one hand, a can in the other.

"Don't lie to the kid, Naomi. We usually sit here. You're fine, though. You did look lonely, but that was besides the point in all honesty. We just went with it." Natsume laughs idly, for no real reason I can think of, her own wit I suppose.

"Ice cold as ever, Natsume. Ayao and I are in class 3-2, right across from yours. We'll all walk back together, it'll be a deliiiight." Yuu stands up, stretching his back. It pops unnaturally, drawing a worn out sigh from Natsume and Naomi and a glare from Ayao. I shrug, toss the juice pouch and wrapper in the can, and leave the cafeteria. The four get up as well, leaving in front of me. I trail behind, my gaze shifting around the halls idly. I don't pay attention to their conversation, more or less just blending into their social circle.

I wave to Yuu and Ayao, as they break off into their own animated conversation, Natsume and Naomi lead me into the room, dragging over a desk to their own.

"Here, we'll save you from the drill masters, I think the teacher will understand... mostly. Probably understand it." Naomi nods, as if assuring herself of this fact. I sit down in the desk, staring towards the board.

I take notes throughout the whole class, paying attention rather well. I answer a few questions of my own accord. The bell rings loudly, and then it rings again, and again, after each class, seemingly dragging on infinitely, until eventually heralding the end of my first school day back.


	3. Act 1: Impromptu Interview

"You know, you don't act that new, Hisao. You're adjusting well, I suppose?" Naomi tilts her head, leaning against her hand and glancing at me over her glasses.

"I read a lot, must of helped." I answer vaguely, shrugging as I gather my things up, "You know where the library is, by the way? I figured I'd be getting acquainted with the librarian, pick up a few books, that sort of thing."

"Oh! Yeah, I do, it's sorta close to the Newspaper Club Room, I'll lead you most of the way there, no questions asked." She grins, pushing up from the desk and grabbing her things, stepping towards the door with no further words allowed.

"By the way, just because I'm not asking anything, doesn't mean you can't. You're new, it's almost expected of you. You're a bit too quiet at times. Your eyes make it look like you have a lot to talk about, but you don't talk." Naomi lets the words roll forth, unabashed.

"Not a lot to talk about, really... I'm just off like that, I guess." I shrug.

"You guess and you shrug a lot. Do you know how to do much else?"

I start to shrug, but stop myself and shake my head no, "I can do other things."

Naomi smirks, her tone flitting about with teasing undertones, "Like what? You said you read. Do you do nothing but attend class and read?"

I roll my eyes slightly, staring at the floor as we walk, "I thought I was the one who was supposed to be asking questions?"

"Fine, fine. Ask me a question."

"...I don't have any." I kick a piece of paper resting against the ground as we round a corner, turning just to see it fly off down the hall.

"You're so confusing, you know that? I'll leave you alone this time, I suppose."

"I thought I was the one supposed to be supposing and guessing?"

Naomi laughs, her cheery lilt much more tolerable than Misha's grating cackle.

She turns on her heel, stepping to the side, "Right, well, as entertaining as it was trying to get lemonade out of a lime, we've hit the Clubroom. You'll love Yuuko. Promise."

With another shrug, I keep walking down the hallway. Upon seeing a pair of double doors, I step through them and peep around. Considering the scent of books and, well, books on the desks and in shelves, this is obviously the library. I step towards the counter and tap the desk bell a single time. An immediate thump follows, followed by a pained squeal.

"Sorry! Sorry! I didn't know you we-"

"No no no! Don't worry about me, I'm fine! Perfectly fine!" The girl slowly moves her hand to the top of her head, leaving it there for a moment before dropping it back to her side, "I'm Yuuko, the librarian. If you need any help with... books, I can probably help..!"

"Uh, I think I'll be fine, mostly.. Do you know where the Historical Fiction is a-"

"Aahhh! I don't know!" She plants her face on the counter and looks up, "Forgive me.."

"I'll uh... I'll survive. I'll be fine. Don't die. That would be bad." I scratch the back of my neck and turn around on my heel, peeping over my shoulder to see Yuuko scrambling through a pile of books again. With a sigh of boredom, I shuffle through the books at random, plucking interesting spines off haphazardly.

I shrug as I plop down into a bean bag chair, drawing an awkward glance from a girl near me; she looks familiar. I simply give a stilted wave and sit down, casting a glance down at my books. I lift one up, a tree branching across the cover lazily. Reading words more so than the actual story, I take the occasional opportunity to glance at the girl. I eventually manage to recognize her from my class in the morning.

Half of her face is... scarred. She jolts up from her book, covering half of her face with her hand in some futile attempt to hide.

We lock eyes on accident. She seems to almost vibrate, staring at me awkwardly, before bolting to attention.

Closing her book, which had not moved a page since my arrival, she raises one hand, as if to speak, suddenly gushing forth, "I'vegottagodosomething!"

And then she sprints out of the library.

Like nothing ever happened, the library slowly shifts back into motion.

...

With a tilt of the head, I stand up. I sit her book down on top of the bean bag she was using, before stepping out of the reclusive area, bobbing and weaving my way through the aisles of books. I'm lost in what I did to launch this girl into a panic attack. We didn't even speak.

Reaching the edge of the shelves, I emerge to see a tall, worried blonde talking to Yuuko. She has a bag on one arm, a cane resting against the other. I wait, glancing around the room at random. The blonde sighs and lowers the cane to the ground, walking off without another word. Yuuko turns, taking a double take when and turns in her heel for the counter.

I step towards the counter, my small pile of books in my arms, "I, uh, I'd like to check these out."

She nods excessively slow, checking out the small pile. While she's tuning out her surroundings, she drops a book from the counter. The book lands against my foot. Jolting in pain, Yuuko stares at me with wide eyes, the gears in her head kicking into motion. I slowly bend over to pick up the book.

...This girl is a time bomb.

She bursts into hysterics, a sad mixture of self loathing and apologies. At one point there were actual tears.

Waving my arms frantically, "It's not an issue! You were talking, it would be rude to interrupt!" I blurt out, scratching at the back of my neck.

"Really..? All you had to do was ask. Speak up... Cough!" She frowns, placing her head against the desk with a solid thud.

Sighing, I step out of the library and wave to my back at Yuuko, who is probably too busy wallowing to see it.

Well, Naomi wasn't really wrong.. Not really right, either, but that's irrelevant to a point. She's probably the kind you have to adjust to, or something like that.

I slowly manage to make it to the stairs, letting my mind wander as I do. I lose my footing, narrowly catching myself on the railings, too lost in thoughts of the past. My heart begins to pound, seemingly reverbing throughout the stairwell. One hand to my chest, the other clutched to the railing, I count.

One, two, three,

One.. two.. three,

One... two... three...

I begin to push myself back up, to a standing position with some effort. Holding on to the railing closely, I take calm, measured steps towards the door.

I dust off my clothes, glancing around with sweat dripping from my head. I turn to the door, and mutter to the air, "Off to the nurse's office I go, then."

Walking through the lush green of the yard, I awkwardly glance around for anyone I recognise. The inside was relatively calm and empty, but the exterior still had some life to it. After some carefully cast looks, I spot one of the guys from my table. Sitting under a tree, laptop rested lazily against it, he seems content. I reach out a hand to tap him on the shoulder, but he raises his own, waving dismissively.

"Hisao, right? You need something? Always up to help. Generally." He snaps the lid of the laptop closed, pushing it into his bag before standing and cracking his back violently.

"I, uh, I needed to know where the nurse's office is." I grab the back of my neck, looking at him with a tilted head.

"It's just over there," he points with a bulky pen, towards a building almost externally identical to the main one, same brick and all.

"Ah, thanks. Yuu, right?" I grin meekly, scratching at the thin hair of my neck.

"No need to be so nervous all the time, or, well, awkward. Me and the rest of that lunch table are pretty alright, save for when Ayao doesn't take her meds." He grins, stowing away a pad and the pen, "Before you head off, you wanna see something?"

I nod, shrugging as I do.

He flips open his laptop lid, revealing an intricate drawing upon a minimalistic program. The drawing is of a man, casually walking up a flight of stairs, through a large group. His face is smug, as he ignores everyone. It's pretty interesting, albeit looks like it needs polishing.

"It looks great. Is that what the pad and pen was?"

"Right, right. Exactly for it. Graphic art... Stuff." He pauses slowly, "You should get going to the nurse, though. Your tone made it sound important. Best to not make stuff like that wait." He waves a hand off towards the auxiliary building, "You'll find a few signs to point you in the office's direction." Yuu waves over his shoulder as he walks back towards his spot under the tree.

With a shrug, I walk up towards the auxiliary building, pulling a pencil from my pocket and flipping it in my hand as I walk for no real reason. I walk in the door, spotting a few unfamiliar faces. I look at a few, glancing up at a sign soon after. Putting my hand in my pockets, I follow its directions to the nurse's office, casually running my hand against the wall as I walk. Eventually thumping my hand against the doorframe of the nurse's office, I knock properly.

Numerous pieces of paper being tossed about can be heard, punctuated with a nondescript thump and an "Ouch!", likely coming from the nurse. He shouts out, "Come on in, door's unlocked... usually!"

I tug on the door, stepping inside to only be underwhelmed. My vision of this place was a tiny hospital in one room, due to the whole "twenty four hour nursing staff."

Instead, I'm met with cheesy medical posters, miscellaneous filing cabinets lined with clutter, and a curtained off bed. The young, albeit standard looking nurse waves to me from behind a veritable pound of paper, "Come on in, sit down in the... ah," He awkwardly motions around the pile of papers, towards a plain, padded chair, "There."

I take a seat in the chair, leaning back slightly and glancing across the nurse's desk, "So, who are you, then? I'm not bad at remembering faces, not at all."

"I'm Hisao Nakai, I jus-"

He raises a finger in the air, flashes of recognition spreading across his young face, "Right! Hisao Nakai, 3rd year… Arrhythmia. Right." He slides over to a filing cabinet, opening it with a quick pull and a slide back, "So, how's your heart feel?"

"Uh.. Not.. Great?" I place a hand on the back of my neck, watching him flit through the files, before he flicks one out of the cabinet, sliding back to the desk with a spin.

"I... suppose that's to be expected," the Nurse nods, "How's Yamaku going for you? Fine?"

"It's good, I guess."

"It'll grow on you, I can assure you of that." he smiles, wide and toothy; the kind that looks cheesy on most, honestly. He manages to pull it off though, "So, now to the fun part, your medications; I assume you know about them?"

I nod once, tilting my head forward.

"So, basically, I'll be monitoring your condition. Since that's my job. If you experience any troublesome feelings, most prominently drowsiness and moodiness, then we'll have to look through your medicines and dosages again. For now, your first allotment should be in your room, correct?"

"They, ah, they are." The talk of all this medicine takes me back to that list, the massive list from the hospital, with all the medicines just spewed across the paper haphazardly.

"Did you play any sports before your accident?"

"I just played a bit of soccer, but it wasn't that big of a deal." In all honesty, I just kicked the ball around with them, it wasn't some burning passion for the game, just something to do.

The nurse tilts his head to the side slightly, before nodding, "Well, physical activity is something you'll need to tiptoe around. You're excused from PE, but you'll still need to exercise. If you keep that up, you're liable to get much better. I'd suggest the track or the pool." He leans back slightly, picking up his empty coffee cup and tilting it back for a drink, then staring it down and placing it back on the table.

"So, is there anything else you need, Hisao?" He glares at the coffee cup, before pushing a pile of papers in front of it, and then eyeing me with his full attention.

"Not really, no. I...I'll make sure to go to the track tomorrow, or something."

"You better, I've got spies everywhere, and don't you forget that." He wags his finger at me nonchalantly, before gesturing to the door, "Dismissed!" He laughs belligerently, as I pick up my bag and step out the door with uneven steps.

Walking back through the Auxiliary Building, I slide my hand along the walls casually once more, staring at the flicker of a far off fluorescent light bulb. When I get outside, the sun is still high in the air and the breeze is still fresh. All it's down to is just a few clumps of students, flecked about at random. I take a number of glances around the grounds, before turning to the dorms.

As I step across the field in between the dorm and the school buildings, it dawns upon me that this was a rather deep step forwards my life, albeit not in the direction I originally saw it all going. Even if this place is loaded to the brim with broken little things, I suppose I can.. Maybe make a living out of it. Barely, really, but I can try.

Who am I kidding, though, it's a school for the inept at life, at least the people here are used to being broken. I'm just here because my heart is broken. And of course, the greenery makes it all so much better.

Hospitals are green so that the atmosphere is calm, collected, tranquil. It makes the rehabilitation better, apparently. It annoyed me more than anything.

The overwhelming amount of green. Blankets were green, cups were green, papers were green, robes were green. All the green made me green. This field is just an agitating reminder of all that green, all that faux tranquility. A few more steps through the field, passing through crowds of lilting friends, I make it to the dorm and make my way inside, seeking out my room personally.

Upon tedious reading of "Room -," I finally reach my own place in these halls, room 119.

The sterile room is just as generic as the hospital room I was stuck in so long. Beige walls, white sheets, faux oak desk, and a bedside stand lined with all my many medications. I pick up one, looking it over.

Nakai, Hisao.

Take 2x daily to live.

Not a literal interpretation, but it's basically how it is. For all I know, I could drop dead any minute I don't have these meds in my system.

It's just futile. Maybe that exercise will end up helping. They always say it does. Brightens your mood, clears your head, helps your heart. All things I could really take right now. I'll do it, set the alarm for an early time, put on some old clothes, and run that track. Definitely.

I pick up a book from the stack I'd made in the library, tossing it onto my bed with a quiet ploof. Taking off the blazer from my old school, I toss it on my desk and plop down on my desk in a fashion similar to my book.

Opening up to the page I dog-eared out of desperation, I pick back up on the story of a man and his tiger. On a boat. because hey, why not, I guess.

Reading through the lines at a lazy pace does what one would expect - pass the time in a lazy fashion. Eventually I end up on a boat of my own.

Or, well... I end up on my mattress, somehow floating in the middle of an endless ocean.

But I don't have a tiger... Not fair.

Not fair at all...


	4. Act 1: Dead News

**...  
BEEEEEEP!  
BRRRZT!  
BEEEP!  
BRRRRZT!**

Ach!  
I fling the sheets from atop myself, springing from the bed violently at the massive ringing of both my alarm and my phone at the same time. I slam the snooze button on the alarm, and check the notification on my phone.

 **[One Missed Call]  
Mom**

I slowly raise an eyebrow, wondering what she would want at such an early hour in the morning. I glance at the other notification.

 **[One Message]  
(Mom: Sorry! was a wrong button  
make sure to have a good day today!)**

Right. Wouldn't expect much more than that.

I toss the phone back on my bed, the hard plastic clicking against the wall as it slides against the near vinyl bed sheets.

I peel off my dated uniform, the last visible relic of my old life… Excluding the phone… And the casual clothes in my closet… Well, the sentiment is still there, I guess. I pull the proper uniform from the closet, the crisp green and white combination permeates my weary eyes.

Nice enough, I suppose. Opening the window, I glance out it and nod lightly, before grabbing my shower supplies from the bag in the corner of the room and heading off with my clothes in tow, sans the blazer.

When I reach the showers, I hear an odd hum, akin to... I think I hear something a communist would be humming. Oh. Oh boy.

I slowly peel away the last of my clothes once I get in my sanctioned off shower, slowly cleaning myself of yesterday's grime. When I start the water, the humming stops, abruptly, followed by the slamming forth of the curtains, "Who's there!?" A shrill voice comes out.

"...I.. Uh..."

"...Show yourself! Now! I am... Not armed. Oh." He sounds visibly disappointed. I wash my arms.

I lather the soap up with my rag, swiping it across my chest, cringing as I cross the scar on my chest, holding the rag over it for a short moment, "Let me showe-" I start to speak.

I scrub the shampoo into my hair as he frantically shouts, "You're probably a feminist spy! Get out at once!"

Feminist... Spy? The hell? I wash off the back of my legs and my toes.

"Silence... You just gave up your innocence! It's gone! You are guilty and hereby prosecuted, feminist scum!" I finally finish rinsing myself from the shower water, begrudgingly turning off the water- hopefully this freak left the room already. Wrapping a towel around my waist, I step out from behind the curtain, met with a violent heel turn and a stare- from behind coke bottle glasses.

"So you show yourself!"

"I... Uh... Yeah. I'm... Here, I guess?"

"Hands in the air, feminazi!" I reluctantly raise one hand in the air, letting the other rest on my waist as I try to hold the towel up. Glancing at this guy and his glasses, messed up hair.. Probably blind... or near it... Maybe a crack addict with hair like that. Who knows?

"Why am I holding my hands in the air?"

"Because I told you to!"

"Why am I feminazi?" I sigh, pulling a stick of deodorant from my bag as a test. He doesn't notice.

As I apply the stick, he rants again, "Because you... You... You just are!"

"Where's your proof?"

"I... I dunno, alright? I don't know!" I put on my briefs, quickly pulling them on regardless of this freak's eyesight.

"Maybe I'm just in deep cover." I slip my pants on, pulling them from my bag.

"...Whoa."

"So, yeah! Just... Let me leave." I pull on my undershirt, then my button up, letting them lay loose.

"What if you're a double agent!?"

"Then I wouldn't be here, being caught in the shower with my pants literally down."

"...True..." He nods slowly, acknowledging my point, "Run along now! Run! Run, for the great Kenji never lets his guard down! It is a conscious choice when he doles out mercy!"

"Kenji... Right." I mutter that under my breath, as I slowly pick my bag up from the linoleum tile, buttoning my shirt and straightening my pants, looping the belt through them as I back up from the bathroom cautiously. I don't need anymore of that in my day.

Stepping down the hall and into my bedroom, I straighten up my clothes awkwardly, pulling the buttons into their proper place & tugging any wrinkles, before grabbing my bag and glancing awkwardly at the clock and realizing one thing; I didn't go to the track. I was too busy reading to do that.

Well... I'll just go after class. I guess. I hope the nurse has one of his "spies" around or something.

I step through the filling halls, pulling against the ebb and the flow of the halls to reach room 3-3, taking a seat in the spot I was given, before glancing around and realizing that this is where Misha and Shizune sat at. I stare off at the window for a moment, mentally flipping a coin before picking up my bag and tossing it to my side, stepping back into the halls. Glancing over top of the raging crowds, I eventually decide to just go with the ebb. Shuffling through the halls like a corpse, I eventually end up at the cafeteria by some feat of nature.

I shamble through the line, grabbing a milk carton and a muffin of... some sort, before glancing for the most barren area of the cafeteria. Setting my eyes upon a window sill, I take my seat with a cautious cross of the legs. Pulling the wrapper from the muffin and sitting it inside the bag, I glance idly across the cafeteria. Scanning, I spot a few slightly familiar faces. I see the whole group from lunch yesterday, Naomi, Natsume, Yuu... And... Ayao? Ayao. They're sitting at a circle table, chatting away, but they seem content so I go back to my muffin.

Wiping the crumbs from the muffin off on my- now mildly stained- pants, I push myself from the window and grab the milk carton from next to me, pulling it open with a quick tug. My bag makes it's way back to my shoulder, and I pick up the wrapper.

I drink the milk as I weave through the crowds, plugging it with the wrapper when I finished it. I lift open the trash can lid and pop the carton in the opening, turning on my heel and squeezing through the crowds. Their direction slowly changes as the clock winds down; eventually I make it back to 3-3 and notice that Naomi and Natsume, thankfully, are here. I approach them with a meek smile and hands clutched to my bag.

"Just take a seat here, Mutou can figure things out on his own, promise." Naomi grins, ushering to the seat next to her. Natsume shrugs sleepily, before leaning on her arms against the desk and staring at the chalkboard dejectedly.

Eventually the lazy quiet breaks with a violent "Wahahaha~!" slamming through the doorway, also known as Misha. Shizune follows in, hands to her back and following with a stare that probably has more piercing power than her friend's drills.

I slink back in my chair, picking up my book with my left hand and scratching the back of my neck with my right, occasionally leaning forwards to flip the page. The obnoxious pair from across the room are either too absorbed in their... duties, whatever those may be, or they just pretended not to notice me; for which, I am pleased.

Mutou steps in the room, taking a cursory glance around, his eyes landing upon the missing desk that ended up being lodged between Naomi and a rabbit-y purp- oh. Oh boy. I just realized who I ended up sitting next to; the antsy purple haired girl from yesterday. The one who dashed out of the library at fifty kilometers an hour.

Slinking back into my seat, I take one glance her direction, and then to my notebook, then to Mutou as he talks at the chalkboard. He's talking about something to do with lights, their physics and such. But, well... I did a bit of studying while I was stuck in the hospital.

Taking a warped cross between notes and excessive doodles, I look up from my notebook, taking a view of the class in motion. Then I realize, the second my eyes pass the purple haired girl, she covers half her face with her hand, staring dead forwards. She seemingly vibrates, before silently picking up her book and exiting through the class: Mutou pays it no heed.

I glance to Naomi and Natsume, both of which are bobbing their heads in an effort to stay awake, but simultaneously falling asleep.

The first class of the day ends without anything really happening, the class was calm. There was no group work, today was just a lecture I guess.

Naomi and Natsume both stand up as the bell rings, popping and cringing as they do, a yawn mixed in somewhere, they take a single look through me- to the purple haired girl's desk; or, more specifically, the lack of a girl in said desk.

"Gehhhh, Natsume! Hanako needs to get better at that~..." Naomi quietly pouts, sitting back down in the desk with a sigh.

Natsume follows, sitting down and turning towards her and I, "She's probably anxious, especially since Hisao sat over here." She pops her head around Naomi, putting on a melancholy face, "The girl you sat next to for that class was Hanako, she's… got a few problems. We're trying to help. She gets on better with that blonde, Lilly. " She squints her eyes, before flipping open the next textbook and glancing over a number of problems.

"Don't, uh, y'know, feel bad, Hisao.. She runs off when things get too intense."

She did just the same yesterday, though… all I did was sit down. I guess social life is hard for her. Or I'm just an intense person.

Probably the former.

I take a final glance at the board, writing down the list of problems on it and bookmarking the page in my textbook. The next few classes pass uneventfully- English is terrible as expected, but tolerable.

By the time I hit lunch, I started the age old ritual of counting the minutes on the clock. The second that clock ticks on to the bell, I already have my things put away in my bag, and I'm turned to face Naomi and Natsume. Both of them have done similar already.

"So I guess you'll be joining us again, Hisao? Make it your first precedent? " Naomi says, lilting and grinning, her tongue coming out in a mocking manner.  
Natsume pushes off of the desk, sighing and using Naomi to stand uneasily.

I guess she got stuck in the chair or something.

Naomi smiles meekly, coughing, "Ah, right! Let's get some lunch then." She raises her hand from underneath Natsume's arm, pointing it to the door with a marching pace established. Natsume grabs her bag from the desktop, popping behind Naomi quickly.

We step out, awkward atmosphere permeating through the populated halls. We take a few oblong glances towards 3-2, before Yuu and Ayao step out, chatting to each other lazily, before turning to the three of us.

"So, we're dragging him to lunch again?" Yuu tilts his head back slightly, before jolting it forwards, "I'm ah, just kidding with you. You're fine. Don't uh... Yeah." He lurches back into position, his back popping wildly. Yuu nudges Ayao, who began cringing and rolling her eyes madly when the popping began.

We continue stepping up the hall, through the groves of students and flocks of apathetic care nots, making it into the lunchroom without incidence.

The group— Naomi, Natsume, Ayao, and Yuu— all step through the line.

I'm not particularly hungry, so I break off from the group with a quick, "Be right back," and veer off around the corner to grab something at random from a vending machine, leaving the giant metal rectangles of casual delight with a cake roll wrapped in plastic, and a can of coffee.

When I step back in the cafeteria, I scan it for the group, the foursome, and spot them in the same table as yesterday… Which I should have expected.

I make my way over, cracking the tab on my coffee and taking a long drag from the can as I walk. Naomi waves, "Hi Hisao! Glad you could make it~!" her tone teases.

"Oh, just wasn't too hungry, that's all. Went off to a vending machine," I hold up the can and cake roll as emphasis, sitting them down on the table as I, myself, sit down.

Naomi laughs, "It's fine Hisao, just make sure you actually eat~," turning to Natsume, she sticks her tongue out briefly, "Else you'll end up falling asleep in class all the time like Nat does!"

"I just don't like cafeteria food, Naomi," Natsume says, as she holds the noodle over her bowl with the chopsticks, "And I like sleeping."

The red headed girl, Ayao, turns and lifts an eyebrow, "Right, that's why I can hear you through the wall of your dorm so often?"

"I also like avoiding sleep."

Naomi stifles her laughter, covering it up with some sort of fake yawn as she quickly turns back to her food.

Yuu picks up each of the trays, patting Ayao on the back as he turns, taking cautious steps through the crowd.  
I stiltedly nod to the three of them left at the table, laying my head down against the table. My chest feels heavy, but.. I don't really think it's that bad. Probably just the hustle and bustle of a day in class.

Then... The light fades in, and then out, rapidly.

A flash of pure white, then black.

Straight black, pitch black.

And then pure white. Fresh palette.

Then it clicks back into focus, the sharp sound of metal on plastic and… sheets whipping forth.

Invading my eyes with the dull white light of a dying afternoon and encroaching evening, "You passed out."

I blink slowly, lowering my head and putting my hand against the back of it, "...Okay then."

The Nurse calls out from the room, "It was a combination of poor rest, medication, or stress; any clue which of the three that'd be hitting you the most?"

"Uh..." Telling him that I'm already somewhat slacking on my medication is probably a bad idea. "I've been kinda stressed out, I... Guess."

He reluctantly nods, glancing back and forth between me and his desk, rotating the cup around in circles, "And you've been taking your medication, correct?"

Damnit. He's either seen through my reaction, or he's just smart enough to go off the checklist. Or both. I bite the bullet. Kinda. "I'm still getting into the, uh, routine."

"So you're forgetting your medication, then?" He levels his stare at me, letting his hands rest without fiddling with the coffee cup again, "If you keep this up, you'll end up back in the hospital, you know that right?"

And this is why I wanted to lie. "Of course. I just need to get into a better routine," I let out.

"I would say so too. You didn't hit the track, either."

"I'll fix that. I just... Didn't sleep very well last night."

"Work on it, Hisao, you have to take your health seriously," his face contorts out of it's serious stare, and into a smile, "But... It's only your second day. I have faith in you, so long as you don't go and collapse on the cafeteria tables again. Make sure to let me know if you have anything else happen, as it might be your pills."

I nod sluggishly, picking myself up from the canvas bed. Naomi and Natsume step out of the door and hold it open for me as I lumber across the room. The nurse calls out as I make my way out of the doorway, "Hisao, meds! I've got spies, you know this!"

"We get it, Nurse!" Naomi calls out, giggling as she lets go of the door and makes her way down the hall & out of the auxiliary building, leaving Natsume and me in tow.

I sigh, shoving my hands in my pockets as I walk. "That was... Sorry, both of you. I'm a mess." I say, mostly to just break the silence.

"Bah, it's fine!" she smiles, "You're not an idiot, like some people in this school, those who do nothing but mope, and dope, and hide in their rooms. The fact we're still all talking proves it~!" Naomi responds.

And, right afterwards, Natsume adds on, "She's right, you're a mess. I'm a mess. She's a mess. But we're not _stupid_ messes. That's what matters."

Well. Okay then. I can't really respond to that, so I just nod slightly and follow behind them. We walk silently, since that seems to be fitting for the mood. It's not an uncomfortable one, thankfully. By the time we reach the dorms, I have fully woken up from the short nap, and adjusted to the light.

"I think you'll be fine to your room?" Natsume says, backed up by a tilted head from Naomi.

"Ah, yeah. I'll be fine, thanks again you two. Today was... Interesting." I wave to both of them, as they make their way into the girl's dorm.

I open up the door and step inside the men's dorm, slowly but surely making my way down the halls and to my room.

I unlock the door and slide inside, not even bothering with my clothes as I plop down against the bedsheets. Sleep comes to me like... Eh... Some sort of jaded metaphor.


	5. Act 1: Running the Press

By the time I wake up again, the room was already filled with the bright light of early morning. I slept like a rock, but I don't really remember what went down in my dreams. Cold sleep, I guess.

I get out of bed and shower, thankfully uneventful in design. I put on my uniform and step out of the dorms with a sigh, taking my time to walk across the campus to the school buildings. In the middle of the massive field of greenery, I sit down on one of the path's benches, leaning back and looking into the bright blue skyline and dull clouds as they scroll alongside the horizon. Eventually I feel a drop of rain, slowly raising in the cacophony of morning, to a casual mist. I hop off of the bench quickly, stepping back to my dorm at as quick a pace as I could muster. When I step in the door, I glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It reads out 6:30, which is... Mildly early. I glance at my pill bottles and sigh, taking one from it and downing it alongside water. Probably for the best that I came back, since I just now managed to take my damned pill for the day. Even last night, I still forgot.

I glance at the bundle of clothes in the corner of my room, tilting my head and realizing I forgot completely about the track meeting I promised yesterday. At least I have a viable excuse, but... It's not too late to go today, I guess. I grab the shorts from the corner and toss the button up shirt onto my bed, pulling on my old gym shirt. Since I don't have gym here at Yamaku, I don't have a uniform for it. So I'll just use this, I guess.

I step out into the slight mist, and walk down to the track, the morning mist leaving along the way, before glancing down to it from atop a slight incline and sighing.

As if answering my calls, a twin tailed girl comes bolting around the track, a furiously focused grin, almost carnivorous in design, crossed her face. I take awkward steps down the hill, raising an eyebrow at the track until she comes bolting around.

I slowly contemplate turning around and walking back to my dorm, to get more sleep, but by the time my heel turns, she's up and waving at me cautiously.

"Hi! Are you the "weary eyed kid" that the Nurse told me about?"

"I... Sure? He told me to come to the track, yes." Do I really look that weary? Oh boy.

"Come on then, I'm Emi, are you... Niki?"

"Nakai, Hisao. Just... Call me Hisao." I scratch the back of my neck and glance at the black track and bright white lines.

"Stop staring and start stretching!"

I never liked stretching...

She seems to notice my apprehension and grabs me by the sleeve, pulling me closer before whispering in my ear, "I hate stretches too, don't worry."

She lets go of me and drops down to the grass with a thump. I follow suit, but when I sit down I realize one very obvious fact I should have noticed a bit ago; she doesn't have legs.

From the knee down, she has... Stilts, almost. Bent paper clips made to the size of a small girl like her, basically.

She slaps my leg and frowns at me mockingly, "Stop staring, start stretching!" I feel the blood rush to my cheeks, and immediately bend to my toes, holding onto them with a wavering grip. I pull my arms back and forth, before Emi pops up to her... feet, for lack of a better word. I push myself from the ground with a grunt, and she points to the track with a giddy grin, "Let's go!" She takes off onto the track, and then stops for a moment, "So... Go?" she laughs as she pops up and down on her prosthetics.

I shake myself a bit, before stepping onto the track and jogging at almost Emi's pace. When she starts running, I increase my pace just a bit. I abandon any hopes of making that speed any time soon, and continue around the first stretch of the track, staring off at the treeline with already ragged breath.

I start counting off the steps in three's, my feet slamming against the asphalt by the time I'm halfway around the first straight stretch.

By the time I reach the second bend, I'm sweating bullets. I stop, hunching over and glancing to Emi as she gallops around the track.

That's the only word for it, galloping. She's graceful, even if she doesn't have legs. She's grown to accommodate for that much I suppose. When I was ragged and slamming my feet, she's simply gliding across the black tar surface. She looks as if she could be the hunter, hunting their prey.

For all I know, I'm the prey, with how skittish and evasive I am.

She seems the kind to run head first into problems.

She rounds the corner with a flash of air seemingly following.

I just back away until I reach a corner and get slammed with them instead.

I back off of my legs, taking onto a slight jog just to reach the finish line at least.

When I reach the line, I still have breath left in me, a small bit of… Drive. Leftover determination, a will to… well, get better for once in my existence.

I don't know what it is, what caused it, but… I like it.

Not really, but it's nice to know that I can keep…

I'm just gonna focus on my breathing.

 _One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three._

I keep going, coming towards the halfway point of the first straight away. Real impressive, me. Keep going.

Even if I'm still going… My chest feels like a bargain bin pair of bongos, flailing about at an off tempo discourse.. But I keep going.

My chest feels like it's being lit on fire and froze to ice, simultaneously, but I keep going around the corner. I spot Emi from the other side of the track, who is slowing down and watching me with… I think…

And then the thumping comes, in full strength.

My vision falls into red, cloudy red and black.

It's happening again, isn't it?

It drops me to my knees, the pounding of my chest filling the track with the sound of nothing but it.

 **One, two… Three.** Count to three, Hisao.

 **One, two, three.**

Keep counting.

 **One, two, three. One, two, three.**

Nothing matters but the counting.

 **One, two, three.**

Slowly, the red fades from my vision, the cloud lifting to drop me back into the track.

I drop to my rear, hands catching myself and sitting up slowly. Emi slides into my vision, my hearing coming back into place.

"-you alive down there!? Hisao?!" She leans over, as if to tug me from the ground, but I slowly move up, and she backs up, "Hisao...?"

I croak out, "I'm, fine. We should probably... Well, get to the nurse."

I push to my feet with Emi's help, and we make our way to the auxiliary building.

The second that Emi walks through the door, she bursts forth like a broken capillary in my heart, sputtering and spitting about.

"Emi, calm down, repeat, but _slooooower._ " The nurse attempts to soothe her.

Eventually I give up on waiting for Emi to compose, and clear my throat, "I ran too much, and my heart started to hurt intensely."

"So you kept going, even when your chest was tightening?"

"...Yep."

He turns to Emi, "Emi, what did I say ?"

"...That it's bad to let people push their limits..."

"And what did I say about bad things?"

"Don't do them..."

"Don't do them." He glances to me once more, "So, does it... feel fine?" I nod slowly before he motions me over, "Emi, mind stepping out? No eye candy for you today. We'll check up on you in a sec."

She steps out, with a constant pout still played across her childish face.

"Right then, Hisao. Lift your shirt," his tone is serious for once, leaving me to slowly lift the shirt from my ragged and still sweaty frame.

He places the stethoscope above my scar, probing at my chest with the cold steel. The tingle is less this time, but still very prevalent.

"Right... It's a bit erratic this time, which is to be expected since you did what you did. I'll keep you in here for a bit, just in case. You can lay down on the bed back there." He motions to the curtained off area.

I step inside and lay down upon the canvas bed sheets with a ploof. He calls out, "Emi, get on in here! Hisao, no peeking, you rotten scoundrel." He chuckles, before I hear the taps of Emi coming into the room.

I roll over in the canvas, facing the brick wall and, for lack of anything better to do, go about counting the bricks slowly. The Nurse and Emi talk between each other, but I zone out before falling into the pitch black of sleep.

When I come to, it's to the sound of Naomi and Natsume, chattering to the nurse; from the looks of it, I awoke in the midst of their conversation.

"-in class because he had a heart problem during an exercise."

"Hisao exercised?" Natsume says, before yelping abruptly, breaking into coarse laughter.

"Hush! He can change if he tries. He's not that... unseemly. Jeez." Naomi sighs. I roll over slightly, trying to avoid making noise.

Somehow, the canvas comes through for me. I manage to adjust just enough to see the conversation unfold through a slit in the curtains.

"Yes, he indeed can. He needs people around him to support him in these things." The nurse coughs pointedly, tilting his head towards Natsume and Naomi, "Do that much for me. I do supply your medicine, you know."

The pair both droop their heads back, before jolting back to him. Does he use that line on everyone?

"Seriously, you don't have to ask, he's fine. Bit cagey, but... He's new. I can't blame him."

I slightly grin, but that droops slightly at the "cagey" bit. I continue listening, but suddenly, a burst of air comes from the ceiling. The ventilation kicks into gear, spurting out a bit of dust and lukewarm air.

A large dust bunny floats from the ceiling, down inside of the curtained off area.

Time almost stops, just for this little dust bunny.

It floofs against my nose.

Violently sneezing, I jerk forwards from the bed, sending a cloud of specks in the air forwards as I do. The curtains jerk open, and Naomi raises an eyebrow at the scene. Natsume sighs slowly.

"...Afternoon, Hisao." Naomi removes her hand from the curtain, putting it on the back of her neck.

"Morning sleeping beauty." Natsume grins smugly, laughing at the moment.

The nurse simply smiles.

"...What'd I miss?" I lean up, turning to the side and facing the three in the room.

"Just the first half of the day, and lunch." Naomi says, Natsume nodding along, before they both turn to the nurse.

"What? He was too peaceful to just wake up. Sheesh."

I push up from the bed, but quickly feel a massive inertia pushing me back down, a quick blur sliding into my vision. I blink a few times, before orienting myself and shaking the blur away.

The nurse glances at me with a confused look plastered across it; eyebrow raised, mouth ajar, all that.

I wave my hand in the air a few times, before standing up, much slower this time.

"Am I, uh, fine to go?"

The nurse pulls a pad of paper from his desk, "I'll write a note for your teacher, all three of you. I'll also email your other teachers about why you weren't in class this morning. And no, I don't let people skip all the time. You're all just lucky little rebels."

I nod slightly, Naomi and Natsume turning their back to the nurse to face me. Naomi speaks up first, "So you're going to go to the track in the mornings?" She mutters under her breath, "It was Emi that ran with you, then? She's a loon, I tell you." Natsume nods in agreement, nudging Naomi with her elbow.

I nod slightly, before the nurse shouts out, "I heard that~!" before slamming his hand on the desk, "Here's your letter, you dirty gossipers and rebels. Get out of my office!" He chuckles, handing over the note.


	6. Act 1: Newsroom Engage

I step out of the door with Naomi and Natsume in tow. They both slide to my sides, nudging me repeatedly, "So, so, so, so." They both sputter out the word "so" like a waterfall.

"...So?" We step out of the building together, "What?"

"So, has anyone roped you into a club?" Naomi says, one more nudge to the side.

Natsume continues nudging, before stepping a bit away and stopping, staring at the ground ahead of herself and focussing.

"No, I've... Not really thought about clubs." I respond, putting my thumbs around the elastic of my shorts.

We turn for the dorms, Natsume raising an eyebrow, "Well, do you write? Or type. Or anything, really. Useful, at least."

"I... Dunno. I've done a little bit of it, but not a whole lot. Mostly just things I've done for Japanese. I used to be told I could edit... kinda well."

Naomi stares at the side of my head, a malevolent grin forming, "We'll have to talk more when you're back."

That's foreboding.

We step up the stairs to the dorm, Naomi and Natsume taking a seat at the benches outside while I go inside to change.

I make my way to my room I open the door with a push, cringing at the thought I left it open so long. I don't want to think that Kenji got in here. I'll just have to sniff the place for cloves of garlic, probably.

When I step inside, I peel off my clothes, grabbing my shower supplies and a fresh towel, before heading to the bathroom.

I step in the shower, running the water over myself, rubbing myself over with the rag and body wash. I rinse, then turn off the shower and dry myself off with the towel.

I make my way back to my room, pulling on an undershirt, buttoning the over shirt with one hand and pulling on the canvas green pants with the other. When I finish buttoning the shirt, I grab a brush from the bedstand and drag it through my hair and toss it on my bed.

I pull on socks and shoes as I limp out of the dorm building. I glance in the glass of the door, sighing at my shoddy appearance, before stepping into the sunlight.

As if the mist foreshadowed it this morning, the sky bursts into rain in a flash of light and pattering water. Naomi and Natsume, who had been sitting on the bench outside, hopped up from it. Natsume tries to keep a reasonable pace, but ends up hobbling and biting her bottom lip until she reaches the overhang near the dorm.

"I'll go grab my umbrella."

They both nod and shudder, staring at the violent storm as it begins.

I step back into my room, scanning it for an umbrella, eventually finding one, an old wooden thing with a sticky trigger. I leave the room, making sure to lock it this time.

I exit the dorms with the umbrella in hand. I pop it open in between Naomi and Natsume, laughing slightly as they jolt. I hold it up in the air, and they both climb under it. Thankfully the thing is huge, else there wouldn't be any room for these two. They cling behind my back,

I toss my gaze back and forth, while they converse behind my back, in the literal sense, talking casually about things I can't find much stock in.

Naomi jabs me in the side with her thumb, and I jolt forwards in slight pain, after a short laugh, she turns to Natsume, "So, like we were saying before, you're not in a club, right?"

"...Right. Today is just my second day, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, we know. But the festival is this weekend. And everyone has some part in it. You came at a busy time."

"...So I did."

"Don't get all apathetic on us, dreamer boy!" Natsume jabs me with a pen, much harder than Naomi did with her thumb.

"Gah! Okay, okay! God... What are you two trying to get me to join?"

"...Oh, nothing, nothing. Nothing at all~." Naomi lilts "innocently," as we step up into the school building. I drop the umbrella back into its compact form, tapping it repeatedly against the ground before stepping inside and shaking myself of the few raindrops that did hit me.

Naomi and Natsume do the same, swiping at their skirts and such. I put one hand in my pocket and lean the umbrella over my shoulder. Naomi fishes the note from her purse, flattening it against a rail before we go upstairs to 3-3.

Stepping around, we open the door, sliding around the wall wordlessly. When the teacher glances over her shoulder, we raise the letter and she nods slowly.

"...The perks of being us." Naomi says, kicking back in her chair and almost sliding out of her desk, before pulling up and leaning against the desk.

The class goes uneventfully, and so do the others of the day.

The final bell of the day rings, and I feel it in my chest.

Even if the day was "short" in terms of class time, it felt like an eternity. I pick up all my work from the classes I missed in the morning.

I pull the bag from my side, tossing it on a nearby desk with a solid thump. I open it up and slide the numerous papers and packets into it, flipping it shut and pulling it up from the desk and to my side. Waving to the teacher, I step out of 3-3 and into the now dormant hallways. I walk towards the stairs, taking a few steps down them cautiously.

I pause, glancing over my shoulder cautiously, before pulling the book out from my bag and stepping from the stairs and into the school's foyer. Opening to my last page, I read on about the adventures of some random guy. I glance from the page to open the door, but realize I'm surrounded on both sides by Naomi and Natsume- both clutched onto my arms and grinning like madmen.

".. Is this what an abduction feels like?" I blurt out, loosening myself slightly.

"Sure is! Save for you're being abducted by two cute girls. Which is better than the usual abduction~!"

"It's still an abduction, Naomi." Natsume tilts her head towards me lazily, "Let's get going, my feet hurt."

...I wonder why I ended up here sometimes.

I attempt to break free, but I'm pulled back into the vice grip by Naomi and Natsume, followed by a pout from both of them. Resigning myself to my defeat, I allow myself to be dragged back to the third floor. We head down the same hallways I take to go to the library, but by the time I see the double doors of salvation, we turn immediately right, into a room. Only one person sits in the room, her bright scarlet hair burning into my vision the moment I step through; Ayao grins widely, drooping it slightly when I step into vision.

["So you did nab 'im?"] Ayao says this in a fake American accent, her English casual in creation. She waves to Naomi and Natsume, standing from a computer in the nearly black room.

["We… did, uh, got her."] Naomi responds- her English is much closer to that of mine, choppy and incorrect at times.

["Get him. Not got her."]

["... Right."] Naomi blushes, pushing me forwards into the clubroom with her arm around my back, "Alright, Hisao, if you didn't figure it out… This is the clubroom Natsume, Ayao, and I all work in here."

I nod, glancing around at the computers and their peripherals, lined up neatly on the desks. In contrast, the desks lacking computers are cluttered with papers, photos, binders, and books.

As I look around, Natsume shuts the door with her foot.

"So, would you like to.. Uh… join? We're short of people this year and the club has a paper to put out for Tanabata this year!" Naomi looks at me, with an intense pout.

"I think it's too early for me to be deciding to go at a club like this… I don't even do much with writing or editing."

"But you could do... much with it, if you apply yourself." Naomi says, finger raised.

"Could, not should," I grin slightly, leaning against the doorframe as I wag my finger.

"At least try it?" Natsume adds with an almost uncharacteristic pout.

Ayao sighs from across the room, "If he doesn't want to join, then he doesn'-"

She's cut off by a flying book, flying across the room.

When I glance down, Naomi had managed to pull a book from my bag and fling it before I could even notice.

Ayao ducks behind the computer screen, and the book slams against a pile of papers in the background. Raising an eyebrow, she settles back to work, continuing her furious tapping at the keyboard.

"Seriously, though.. We need someone to help us out. We've got an entire issue due to print for the festival, and we need to run our stand." Naomi tents her hands in front of her legs, glancing down at the floor dejectedly, adding almost as an afterthought, "But, uh… if you don't want to join, it's fine. Honestly."

Natsume shrugs, and steps over to Ayao, watching her work from over her shoulder.

I glance at Naomi, who is definitely not faking the puppy dog eyes plastered across her face. She seems genuine in her thoughts here.

"I'll... try it. Try. No promises. Not until I see that it's good."

"Great!" Naomi pops up in the air like a spring, wrapping me up in a hug, before pushing off of me with a blush and a grin, her lilting laugh filling up the small room.

I smile slightly, before Naomi tugs me over to the computer.

Ayao is carefully arranging numerous photos and boxes of text across the LCD screen. Natsume is nodding or shaking her head at miscellaneous intervals; she's taken a seat at this point.

I follow suit and take a seat as I glance at the screen. Naomi pushes me towards another open screen.

"I... I don't play with computers, or typing. Would you mind editing this piece for me?"  
I nod slightly, skimming over the article before leaning forwards in the chair.

By the time I finish editing that article, and the rest of the group's articles, the sun is setting into bright red and orange sunset.

I stand from the chair, stretching my back. The air fills with the reverberating pops of my back, which sends Ayao into giggling, before she shuts herself up. Naomi and Natsume smile shortly, turning to an eye roll. I'm lost.

"Why are you...?" I glance towards Ayao, but she waves her hand in the air repeatedly, before standing from the desk as well. Naomi and Natsume grab their bags from the counter, and toss mine to me.

"Good job on the editing, Hisao~! Tomorrow you'll have to transcribe an article I wrote in my notebook. Oops." Naomi lilts about, as she opens the door for everyone, stepping out last.

We paused at the corner of the hallway, waiting for Ayao. She steps towards the library.

"She goes there a lot. Looks up to Yuuko for some reason." Natsume mutters.

Ayao pulls on the doors a few times, before giving up and rejoining the group.

"What? Let's get going." She sighs.

We all exit the school building, the three chatting in between themselves. They include me into the conversation a few times, but I shrug, nod, or shake my head in response to each one.

We split up at the dorms, waving to each other and yelping out goodbyes.

I fish out the key from my pants, flicking open the door and laying down on the bed. Before I let myself fall asleep, I pull my bag from my side and slide out all the papers from class today.

English, math, and science, a few notes from each and a list of problems to accompany them.

I toss them onto my desk, flipping forwards from the bed and pulling myself into my chair.

Taking a seat at my desk, I open the science textbook and begin pouring over the limited notes that Mutou left me to go over.

I fall into routine, finishing the papers by the time the clock strikes 11. I pull the curtains shut, slide out of my uniform, and press the buttons on my alarm clock. In a pair of shorts, I step out of my dorm with a glass.

"Hey! Who goes there?!" A familiar voice calls out as I step towards the fountain. Numerous deadbolts pop and fire on the door opposite of mine, before opening after an anxious wait.

As I begin to fill the cup up, the sad sight steps out in war mode. Kenji has nothing but his glasses and a scarf on.

"What are you doing out here?! This is my domain!"

"I live here."

"You...! You're that spy!" He scratches the back of his neck, "Or, well... The possible spy! Why are you here! Why do you live here!?"

"Because I was assigned here."

"I refuse to believe it! No! You're not allowed."

Almost as if on cue, a pair of doors open, "Shut up!" "Go to bed!" ring out down the hall. Kenji seems unabashed.

"Look, it's 11 pm. It's late at night. Stop shouting and go to bed." I say, stepping around him. He doesn't see me move, or... Doesn't care.

"...You win this battle, society! But mark my words. You will not win the war!"

Shutting my door with my foot, I step back inside and swallow the countless pills with the glass of water. As I toss the plastic cup into the trash can, I slide into the bed.

Naomi and Natsume, Yuu and Ayao. Those four are... interesting. They're nice enough, that much is true.

…What a group. All sorts of people here. Naomi is... fluttery and ditzy, Natsume is cagey and blunt. Yuu is social and creative, Ayao is quiet and evasive. All of them seem like they're rather smart, too.

What a group indeed.


	7. Act 1: Oil on the Press

I wake up to the piercing rhythm of my alarm clock, stabbing the sleep I earned with my long day yesterday. I fumble about for the snooze button, eventually giving up and smacking it, tugging the clock free from the plug in the wall.

I roll over and fall back asleep, thankful for the extra sleep.

A bird chirps outside. Rather loud, in… contrast to most birds. I glance up from the bed, and look out the window, then glancing to my clock.

Oh, right. I uh. Smacked it. I pull my phone from the charger on my desk, and flip it open. Twenty minutes until class starts, fun.

I peel off my leftover clothes and slide into a fresh uniform. I step into the bathroom and wet my hair, brushing my teeth with my left hand as I do. I take my morning pills and gather up all my papers for class today.

My day starts with an odd note, but classes go as planned, lunch is normal enough, and the weather is plain enough to stare at.

When the final bell of the day rings, I step out of the classroom's door and start for the dorms, before being grabbed on the arms again.

"Ah ah ah~! Not today. Sorry~!" Naomi lilts, hooking her arm under my shoulder and popping over to stand beside me.

"Truth be told, if you just reminded me I would've went. Force isn't necessary." Albeit I'd probably make a half baked escape attempt for no real reason.

"No chances," Natsume says, peering over the rim of her glasses as she steps around to my side.

The halls still have a substantial amount of people wafting around them,

We arrive in the club room, but there seems to be a distinct lack of redhead in the room.

"She's probably just shadowing Yuuko today." Naomi shrugs, pulling into a chair and tossing me a notebook from her bag, "Here, type this up~!"

I pull the notebook open, flipping through pages upon pages, each filled with notes and doodles, until I land on the bookmarked page.

I cautiously type out the article, checking any grammar as I go.

The finished product goes out to Ayao's email, provided by Natsume.

Naomi grins ear to ear, flipping to the second bookmark, "I've ah, got more." She smiles, leaning on the desktop with a pout, laying nearly at my hands as she stares up to me with sad little eyes.

"Your face makes me feel guilty," I peel open the notebook to the next bookmark and start another page on the document.

"Mission accomplished~!" she giggles, spinning her chair before hopping up and stepping over to see what Natsume is doing.

By the end of this article, I realize I'll be falling into a routine soon.

I cringe at the thought.

It could be much worse, I could be stuck with Shizune and Misha. At least this lot are entertaining… those two are too serious. I couldn't see them doing much else. They don't seem the type to do much socializing, too busy being pseudo dictators or something.

I bet they dream in Risk boards.

I wake up the next morning, this time to the first alarm… no clue why, but I do. I pull on my old soccer clothes, stepping out of my dorm and into the cold morning sun. When I reach the bottom of the track, Emi is already doing sprints up and down the straightaway. She notices me, slowing to a stop and heading my way with a wave.

"So, you did come back!" She puts her hands on her hips, pouting slightly, "You didn't come yesterday, that's not good!"

I nod, "...Uh, right, yeah. Busy week."

"No excuses! Just try to come from now on, alright? I didn't think you'd come back, to be honest... That's a good sign though, that you're back! Day two is the hardest day, but uh... you skipped that. So day one again!"

She giggles a few more times, shifting on her prosthetic, before tilting her head to the side, "...Well, let's stretch."

Hopping on her false legs a few times, she bounds towards the track, before dropping down to her back and beginning to stretch. I follow along, like I did on Tuesday.

After a few pulls and twists, we both stand and walk up the first straightaway, "So! Hisao, how are you enjoying Yamaku? Is it fun?"

"I.. It's fine I suppose."

"Just fine?" She tilts her head to the side, walking backwards as she talks.

"It's not that different from my old school, to be honest. It's got cliques, clubs, and social status just like I'm used to."

"Well, that's good! Right?"

"Yeah."

Without another word, she hops in the air slightly, turning forwards and bursting off into a run.

I take off as well, holding a similar pace to the day before last.

When I round the corner, I feel the familiar wheeze begin to set in.

I start to slow down a bit, the final bits of resistance falling in on itself. I slow to a stop, breathing heavily as I lean on my knees. Emi comes around me once, turning around when she finished sprinting the straightaway.

"No more for you today?" She pouts, sitting down, "Sure you can't do one more?"

"..No... I..." I wave a hand at her, trying to get across my exhaustion.

She nods energetically, "Well, keep coming back, alright? You can't stop so quickly, whether it be in the long run or in the short term. You'll get better if you take time to do it!" She smiles ear to ear.

"I'll... Definitely try." I push off of my knees, "I'll see you around, Emi."

"Wait! Do you want to come to lunch with me and a friend? To..." She stops talking, pulling the 'o' until starts speaking again, "...Morrow? Or today."

"Tomorrow would probably work the best."

She nods slightly, "Don't skip tomorrow morning either! I'll sic the nurse on you if you don't! I'll finish my cool down up and head to the auxiliary building soon. Don't wait up for me!"

I wave goodbye to her, turning and walking towards the auxiliary building at a casual pace.

My visit with the nurse goes as expected, even without the violent Emi-crashing.

I head to class, sitting down in the now usual seat.

One thing I noticed, is that Hanako, the purple haired girl, is excessively skittish. It feels like if I turn her way, she'll burst into confetti and flee, screaming and running. It's really weird, to be honest.

They wave to me, grinning as Mutou searches about for his papers.

"So, are you ready for this weekend? It's so close~!" Naomi lilts, pulling her bag up from the side of the chair.

Natsume is knocked out by the time she hits the hard plastic of the desk.

Mutou goes over the same subject we've been reviewing all this week, something about light waves. Thankfully, I'm able to be rather lenient when it comes to attention in his class.

I read over a lot of this stuff in the hospital, anticipating my escape to be much later than it was.

The bell heralding lunch rolls in, Naomi and Natsume both pulling up from the desks with various curses and grunts.

"Gaaaaahhhh… I'm so glad it's lunch. Coming with us again, Hisao~?" Naomi smiles, grabbing both bags from the middle of Naomi and Natsume's desk.

"Yeah, definitely. Thanks again for, well, letting me hang around you guys. "

Naomi and Natsume nod, "Of course~! It only seemed natural. Are you, ah, enjoying Yamaku?" Naomi adds on.

"It's not bad." I can't say much more, it's definitely... better than expected. I was expecting mismatched humans with feet for hands, and no torsos. I got a few weird people, and a few that I could almost call a friend.

"That's good. I'm... I'm glad the school is warming up to you. Really." She smiles slightly, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

We walk towards the cafeteria, Yuu and Ayao joining us as usual. Remembering a tidbit of information, I call out to Yuu.

"Hey, you were on the track team, right?" I stuff my hands in my pockets.

"Oh, yeah. Why?" He tilts an eyebrow, jabbing me with his elbow, "Thinkin' about joining?"

"Oh, no. No no no. Sorry. I was, uh, wondering if you knew about Emi." I blink a few times, shifting my gaze about.

"Who doesn't know Emi? The girl is great. Crazy, but great. Why'd you need to know about her?" He leans forwards, walking backwards, glancing at me as if he had a pair of glasses to look over, "You interested in her or something?"

I wave my hands frantically, trying to find the right words to respond to that, "No! No no no! The nurse told me to run the track when I can, and we ended up running together sometimes.. It's nothing weird. She just..." I pause, pursing my lips, "She said she would make me lunch tomorrow?" I hush slightly.

Yuu laughs boisterously, "Jeez, Hisao. You're so uptight, it's just a lunch. Probably with her weird friend too. Still, what'd you need out of me?"

"...I figured you could fill me in on... her? If you're in the track club you'd know her."

We all step into the line. Naomi pops around, Natsume peering over her shoulder like a hawk, "What are you two talking about? All hush hush too~."

"Legs asked Hisao to get lunch with her and a friend." Yuu says, poking me in the side with his elbow. I cringe slightly and he grins back.

Naomi nods, "That's fun, then! Glad to see you're making friends, Hisao. Great to have lots of people you can talk to~!"

Natsume raises an eyebrow up, nodding at about the same pace.

Each of us get our respective lunches. I pick up a piece of bread and a can of tea.

I sit down across from Yuu. Ayao stares at me for a moment, a slight sigh crossing her lips. Naomi and Natsume stare at her, before she retreats into her notebook to write another story.

Plucking pieces of the bread, eating it casually, I lean across to Yuu, "So is she like... Crazy or something? Should I be worried?"

"She's fine, man, I promise. She's fine. The one you should be worried about is her other half."

"...Other half?"

Ayao taps the cap of the pen on, staring at me again, "Rin. Armless painter. She's talented, not crazy. Maybe a touch misunderstood. But not crazy."

I nod, smiling in response. She simply rolls her eyes and falls back into the notebook. I glance at Yuu and Naomi, both of them responding with but a shrug.

"You'll be fine though, Hisao. She's probably just curious about you."

"And that's... a good thing, right?"

"Right. Now eat your bread before I do, that kind looks better than my ramen."

I smile slightly, pulling the last few pieces up, drowning them down with the tea. I lean forwards into my notebook, glancing over notes for the last few minutes of the lunch period.

When the bell rings, we all head back to class and go about the rest of our days. Afternoon class passes uneventfully, and when the final bell rings, I wait for Naomi and Natsume.

"Hey, are you guys going to the newspaper room?" They both grin widely, nodding enthusiastically.

We step into the room, Ayao already perched in the back corner with a notebook in hand. She raises one hand and waves, acknowledging us all briefly, before diving back into her own little world.

"Right, today is basically the last day. We just have to go out and get a few pictures for the paper. Which is... Fun. Because we'll have to deal with the student council. The drill sergeant and her favorite drill."

I sigh; I haven't had to talk to them since day one, when they got all sorts of competitive. I don't know why it irked me like it did, but it did. Maybe they're fine people, but... They didn't make a very good first impression.

Natsume sighs along, "Do we haaaaaaave to."

Ayao calls out, "Yes, you do. My work is not going to waste. As much as that seems to be the norm around here."

Natsume and Naomi both glance at me, roll their eyes consecutively, and turn out of the door.

"First off, we've got to find the art room and get a camera from Nomiya." Natsume pulls her phone from her pocket, keying in the to do on a list. "Then we'll have to go out and get pictures of Shizune and Misha... Or their work at least. We weren't going to have time for the article on those two, but since you came we've hit all our expectations ~!" Naomi grins, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, her hands behind her back.

" We'll also have to get the ink from them. " Natsume points towards the printer, a massive box in the corner in the room with more buttons, knobs, and slots than I'd care to count.

We all step out of the room, waving to the silent Ayao in the corner of the room.

First stop is the art room. Nestled in the corner of the hall: We step in the room, devoid of any sort of life. Naomi bounds over to the shelf, poking around the shelves for the paper we need.

"Is there something special about this paper? Why not just use copy paper?" I ask, my voice filling the room with something more than just idle rustling and shifting.

"This paper is bigger and softer, it holds the color more than copy paper too. It's rather good for our purposes." Natsume says, almost moving to push something up the bridge of her nose, but stopping and smiling silently. She glances through the shelf, not moving anything for some reason. She seems really lazy, smart though. Doesn't really waste words either.

"Plus, it looks and feels similar to a real newspaper~!" Naomi adds, tilting her head around as she pulls a box aside to peek inside it.

Putting it back with a frown, I ask cautiously, "So, what's it even look like? The paper. What's it in?"

"It's in a roll. Short. Thick, though." Natsume turns from the shelf, double checking through them.

I glance around the room, searching for a roll of newspaper. My eyes land upon the desk up front, scattered with papers.

I point awkwardly to the thick roll, "Is that it?"

Natsume turns, sighing, "Yes, that is, indeed, it."

Naomi pushes a box back into the shelf with her forehead, stepping down from the chair she'd positioned herself on top of.

She missteps, her foot falling from the hard plastic of the chair. Falling backwards from the chair, she seemingly floats. Natsume cringes, stuck in and out of moving forwards to catch her.

I try to step forward and catch her, but by the time I'm even close, she falls upon the hard linoleum, her body making a hard crack against it.

When I reach down to try and help her up, Natsume starts to frown, "Hisao, go grab something soft, anything." I start to open my mouth to question why, but she interjects before I can, "Just do it, quickly." Her voice remains calm and level, the frown still level across her face.

I glance around for a pillow or a blanket, and find a folded up canvas tarp, in the corner of the room underneath a few paint cans.

I pick up the posting cans- thankfully empty or close to, sitting them on the desk and pulling the tarp out and bundling it under my arm.

"Here, this should work!" I call out, stepping around the desks.

Natsume lifts Naomi's head, placing the tarp under it and sighing, Naomi is stiff and motionless, almost like a tree in the wind. She looks like she could be uprooted and snapped, like a fresh, thin, tree.

She just looks so… fragile.

Naomi eventually loosens, but doesn't move, her eyes shutting from their painfully opened state.

"We'll have to bring her to the nurse. You'll have to pick her up. I ah… can't. "

I uneasily pick her up, one arm under her back, the other under her legs. She's cold, clammy, and nearly vibrating. I grunt under her weight, stepping out of the art room slowly.

"Right, we need to be careful. We'll take the elevator downstairs."

I nod in response, stepping over to the elevator behind Natsume, "How are you so calm?" I ask, as she presses the call button for the elevator.

"This is, ah, normal for us. We both take care of each other. I'll explain it later." She smiles slightly, a genuine gesture. She sighs, putting her hands behind her neck as the elevator door slides open.

The ride down, and the walk over are silent, save for the sound of Naomi's ragged breathing. Natsume continues taking the lead, opening and holding doors open for me to step through. When we reach the nurse's office, she steps in, opening the curtain for me. The nurse nods regretfully, closing the door behind me.

"Just lay her down on the bed, Hisao. Close the curtain too. She'll need her rest for now. What caused it?"

I take a seat in a chair from the corner stack, slumping over. I breathe in a few times, trying to catch my breath from the long walk and weight of carrying Naomi here, both mental and physical.

He looks towards Natsume, then to me. Natsume waves a hand to me, before speaking, "She was trying to grab a roll of paper from a shelf. Fell when she came down from the chair she climbed up on to."

The nurse frowns, "I see. The both of you did what you could, I suppose.. Hisao, how do you, ah... feel. Is your heart fine?"

I glance towards him, tilting my head back.

My chest hurts, that much is clear,but I ignored it. I suppose it was just... I don't really know. Maybe I just felt the need to get her to safety before something else happened.

The nurse taps his pen against the rim of his coffee cup, glancing at me once more.

"It hurts, but it's not... bad. I freaked out from what happened."

Natsume nods slightly, almost in agreement or acknowledgement.

"If you don't mind me asking, Hisao, how did your first heart attack happen?"

"Well, I... It wasn't really…"

"It's fine Hisao, the situation doesn't really matter, just curious if you had similar causes to this one. Just don't over exert yourself, like you did today. You did the right thing, but keep yourself in mind too." He glances to Natsume, "Next time, call me. You should know that much."

"I was caught off guard." She frowns, falling further into her chair.

The nurse nods slightly, "It's fine." He sighs, spinning around in his chair a few times, before skidding his heels on the tile, "How are you liking Yamaku, Hisao? This week has basically been an extreme for you, I would say."

"It's alright, just a touch... Well, extreme, like you said." I put my left hand to my temple, rubbing at them in an attempt to calm the beginnings of a headache.

"Hisao, you're doing great. Most people who come into Yamaku like you are reserved and keep to themselves, but you seem to be adjusting well, especially considering your circumstances. Are you planning on going this weekend, right?"

"The festival? I don't really know." Natsume glances to me at those words.

"Well, you should go." She says, "You deserve it after this week. Naomi was already planning on dragging you to it under the guise of Newspaper Club work. We don't have to do anything though, just fill the stand and check on it once and awhile. The papers are free to take since it's just a club paper."

The nurse points his pen at her, "That's a good idea!"

The curtains from behind us all rustle a bit, and the canvas bed sheet crinkles under movement. Naomi reaches a slender hand out through the opening, peeking out of the grey light and into the dull sun of the nurse's office.

"What happened? Hisao, Natsume, did we get the paper and the camera?"

"We got the paper."

Natsume adds on to my quick statement; "We need to get the camera still, but you fell asleep. We stopped by the nurse to let you rest. Are you fine to walk?"

She nods groggily, wiping the sweat from her brow and pushing the sleep from her eyes.

"Let's go to your dorm then, alright?" Natsume stands from the chair,putting her arm around Naomi's waist and stepping out of the Nurse's office, motioning for me to follow.

"Keep up the good work, Hisao. Make sure to stop by the office again tomorrow morning after your run." He stands up from the chair, following me out of the room and  
shutting the door behind me.

I speed walk to Natsume and Naomi, both shuffling up the main hallway of the auxiliary building.

"Natsume, I can go get the camera and the paper. Do you need any help with Naomi?"

She shakes her head to me, "Just drop the camera and the paper off. I'll be back soon enough. Explain to Ayao what happened and she should drop the high and mighty artist act." Natsume steps out of the greenery, and into the field leading across to the dorms.

I step back into the main building, glancing through the notes I'd taken for the day as I walk.

When I reach the art room, it's still empty in the department of life.

I grab the roll of paper from the desk, leaning it over my shoulder as I step out of the door again.

I head to the student council room, on the directions given originally by Naomi.

I knock on the door, met with utter silence.

"Anyone there?" I call out, before turning on my heel to leave.

A massive, excessive lilt passes through the halls, laughing boisterously; Shizune and Misha.

I lean against the door, somewhere in between standing and sitting. They round the corner, looking at me confusedly. Misha's violent laugh halts immediately.

"Oh." Misha blurts out. Shizune stands to her side, looks of disinterest and mild agitation flashing back and forth on her dark blue eyes.

Electing to not draw this out, I cut straight to the point, "Naomi and Natsume sent me to pick up the camera and get some pictures of the stalls in progress." They both glance at me with cocked heads, Misha's hands translating my words furiously, cutting through the air. Shizune responds with shut eyes and the gesticulations of a practiced swordsman.

Misha holds her eyes open, watching the reply and speaking slowly, lacking the obvious passion Shizune held, "So you're working with them now? I guess it's good that you found your place, but I never pegged you for one of them!" Misha's wording lacks the pointed tone and condescending attitude that I would expect from Shizune, "So, you all need what from us?"

"A camera, and access to where you are assembling the stalls." I respond quickly, stuffing my hands into my pockets.

Shizune receives the translation, a wry grin crossing her face. Misha then pipes up after reading her hands, "So that's all you need? Nothing more? You have all your preparations for the festival complete, save for the... stands?"

"Yes, we do. Can I have the camera, please?"

Responding as quick as an average human would, Misha pipes out, "Fine, then! In~side~!" She opens the door, and Shizune steps in before I can even take a step. I blink a few times, lost in the complexity of every action this woman takes, every ulterior motive layered into her each and every action. I lurch forwards through the door, Misha paused in confusion as she lets the door close.

Misha calls out, "The camera is over here~!" She then mutters under her breath, covering it with a cough.

Rolling my eyes, I pick up the camera and loop it around my neck, "And where are the stalls being made?"

"Take a left, exit the building, and round the corner! Don't drop the camera, or else Shizune says she'll kill you~!"

"...Right." I step out of the door, exiting the building and turning the corner of the building, laying my eyes upon numerous masses of stall and stall like apparatuses.

I pull the picture from my neck and line up the viewfinder with my face, glancing through it and lining up a shot of the stalls. I crouch down slightly, taking a few different pictures at different angles.

I let the camera dangle loosely around my neck, as I glance around for a final shot.

When I let the camera droop, I glance across the side of the school, and out into the greenery. I take a shot of the weak sunset, peering through the shrouded treeline, sighing slightly.

I let the camera go, drooping it around my neck and stepping back to the main building. I find my way back up to the Newspaper Club Room, Ayao still sitting in the corner with her notebook perched against her knee lazily.

"What took you three so- Oh. Where are Naomi and Natsume?" Ayao glares at me from across the room, flicking her notebook shut.

"Naomi ah, seized. Had a seizure. Natsume took her back to her dorm and sent me off to finish the list." I pull the camera from my neck, "I'll handle getting the photos on to the computers. I'll even send it to your email, and let you pick."

She nods, a confused frown crossing her face as she plunges back into her notebook again. I sit down at the desk, and set about getting all the stuff out for the paper.

"Sorry," she says casually, "That's ah, a rough thing to see."

I nod, turning in the rolling chair, "It was, yeah. But, well... It was necessary, I think."

She nods, eyes closed as she drags her feet back up to her chest, "Right."

I pull the USB cord from the side of the desktop, plugging the computer and the camera together with a little wire. I eventually spot the files in the camera's storage, and drag them to an email with all three of the Newspaper Club members.

When I hit send, I stand from the chair, stepping towards the door. I quickly realize I forgot the extra photos I took. Sitting back down, I send myself the photos I took afterwards.

I wave goodbye to Ayao, and she acknowledges my exit with a nod and a slight wave.

I make my way to my dorm, taking a few looks at my homework before shutting the book and tossing it onto my bag in the corner of the room. I lay down on my bed, silently counting the popcorn of the ceiling.

What exactly happened today? Why was Natsume so… calm? Does Naomi have these normally? I don't know what to think. I know this is a school for the disabled, but so many people have silent problems, problems that explode if you trigger them. My heart, Naomi's... head.

And why couldn't Natsume help? She said she "just couldn't." There's so many questions and so few answers anymore.


	8. Act 1: Newsroom Engage (Again)

The next morning sneaks up on me, pulling the darkness from my eyes and tossing it out of the window, replacing it with a shrill alarm and a batch of freshly agitating sunlight.

I slip out of last night's clothes, groaning audibly as I pull on the old soccer uniform. The exercises are Doctor's orders, so it's hard to just... skip them.

I pull my pills from their bottles, downing them without a second thought and coughing on the taste without water. Locking my door, I step out of the dorm building and into the dull morning light.

By the time I make it to the track, Emi is already stretching out on the asphalt.

Wordlessly, I make my way over and start stretching as well.

"Morning, Hisao~! I'm glad you could make it a second day, you lazy bones!" She lilts, pushing her "feet" back and rolling her shoulders.

I nod, dropping a grunt in agreement.

"Tired, I guess? We'll run that right out of you, then!" She pushes up from the dirt and bounces on the fake legs casually, hands behind her back. I pull my leg back a bit, before standing. I feel like every bone in my body is simultaneously creaking.

"Let's get going then~!" She steps over to the starting line, bursting off it and quickly reaching speeds I could never imagine.

I jog from the line, increasing my pace ever so slightly until I reach a point where my legs feel like jello.

I continue running, but maintain my pace, just a touch longer than yesterday. By the time I feel my legs giving out, I had reached the starting line.

Emi comes by, finishing her innumerable sprints, patting me on the back as she grins wider than her face can seem to account for. "That was great Hisao! You'll be doing better in no time! Now I feel like I really do owe you that lunch~!" She drops to the side of the track with a ploof, stretching a bit before standing back up again.

"You head on to the nurse, I'll stop by in a bit..." Her voice is mildly strained, but she still holds a smile, playing with the paper clip prosthetics, as I walk away.

I step into the nurse's office, the trip to the building described by a single word: uneventful.

Sitting down in the chair, the nurse glances at me, "So, your exercise going well?"

"It, well, it mostly is."

"Mostly?"

"Having Emi as a partner is confusing. She's so unreachable as a goal, but so easy to strive for."

"Don't go getting any ideas, lover boy~." The nurse laughs boisterously, waving a hand idly in the air at his own joke, before pushing a strand of his hair from in front of his eyes, "I know what you mean, though. Emi is a wonderful girl and an even better runner. Having to run beside her would be rather... taxing. I assume you're not overexerting yourself again?"

I shake my head, "No, no... I couldn't see myself doing more than what I'm doing."

"Well, you'll reach a point where you can naturally run without too much effort. You'll need to increase the distance you run eventually. But in your first week? No, no." The nurse pulls my file from the nearby cabinet, marking down a few notes and grinning again, "Have you talked to your parents, told them how the year is going?"

"I don't really talk to my parents much. Even when I wasn't dealing with my heart problems, I was excessively independent. They both worked nights."

"So, I'll take that as a definite 'no.'" He says, grinning slightly.

"Yeah, a definite no."

"Alright, on to our favorite part of the day; lift your shirt for me?" He says, winking as he does so.

I shiver at the off-putting humor, but lift the sticky shirt from my chest anyway. He places the cold steel on my chest, probing it three times, then letting it drop back around his neck.

"Great, great! Your heart is beating fast, but the beats are not… too erratic; you indeed did exercise, and didn't just get your shirt wet. That's happened before."

I shrug, letting out a slight grin, as I let my shirt drop back down, "Is there anything else then?"

"Just keep it up, and good luck at lunch today." He winks again, laughing boisterously as he stands from his desk. "I'll get the door."

I step out of the office, and leave the building, casually walking over to the dorm.

My clothes are laid out on the desk, pre-placed from last night. I take them and my shower supplies along to the bathroom. Devoid of any freaks and failures, my shower goes peacefully. When I get back to my room, I glance at the clock and note that I have a bit of extra time before class starts.

Deciding to make use of it, I head to the main building and make my way to the cafeteria. I shuffle through the line, getting a plate of breakfast at random. I end up with a bowl of miso soup, an apple, some rice, and a piece of dry toast.

I sit down at a small booth in the corner of the cafeteria, eating without a word.

I stand to toss my trash in the bin, meandering to it through the now growing crowd of sleep-deprived students.

I slide the garbage into the bin, placing the tray and the bowl on top and turn to exit the cafeteria, heading to my first class of the day.

The classroom is empty, save for one kid in the opposite corner of the classroom, drooling over a textbook casually. I slide into my chair, pulling out my notebook for science and start flipping through the notes I had taken yesterday.

Naomi steps in soon after, missing her other half. She waves to me as she sits down in her desk, mirroring my motions of pulling out the notebooks and supplies.

"Where's Natsume?" I ask, breaking through the silence in this corner of the room.

"She stayed home today, she had an, ah, flare up. Because of me." She frowns slightly, peeking through her notebook in varying motions.

"..Flare up?"

"She has arthritis, a lot of it, to be simple about it."

That's… Well, that explains things. A lot of things. Basically all the questions relating to Natsume at least, I sputter out my thoughts to fill the awkward silence, "...Oh. That, uh.. Sorry."

"Yeah." She nods to me once, turning back to her book, mumbling something: Whether it was to me or to no one in particular is debatable.

The morning classes go by at a strangely slow pace. I find myself looking out the window repeatedly, checking the clock and my watch periodically only to realize a mere minute or two has passed.

When the lunch bell rings, I fish out the phone from my pocket as I step out of the classroom. When I open it, I'm greeted with a text from an unknown number.

"hi hisao! this is emi  
remember that we have lunch today  
meet me and my friend up on the roof  
Ive got lunch and stuff all ready to eat so dont worry about that  
seeya soon!"

I awkwardly slide the phone back into my pocket, peeking around the buzzing nooks and crannies of the 3rd floor hallways.

How'd she even get my number?

Eventually I find a stairwell, aptly labeled "Roof Access." I make my way up the flight of dimly lit stairs, arriving at the door at the top. A broken padlock is lying down on the ground next to the door, and the door itself is hanging loosely open, sunlight pouring through the crack and into the stairwell.

When I open the door, I'm greeted by two people sitting on the opposite side of the roof, at an out of place picnic table.

Emi calls out, waving me over to the table, "Come on~! I've got your food over here!"

She pats the spot next to herself, and points at the boxed lunch. The second I acknowledge her, she sets to picking apart her lunch with the fervor of a ravenous animal, dissecting fresh prey.

I take my seat next to her, pulling open the bin and pulling the contents out, from their individually boxed packages. When I look up, the person across from me has their… feet positioned above the box lunch, eating contentedly... with their feet?

"Uh...?" I glance to Emi, snapping the chopsticks down the middle and holding them over my lunch as I try to make sense of the situation.

"Wha- Oh, right~! Hisao, this is Rin! Rin, this is Hisao!" She grins, a piece of rice plastered to her bottom lip. She flicks her tongue out, pulling the loose rice back into her maw, turning back to her food right after, in proper, full force.

Rin drops the chopsticks, nodding to me, "Hi." I inspect her frame, noticing a distinct lack of… arms.

Which would explain the feet, I suppose.

"...Hi?" I respond, picking up the chopsticks again.

...She…? doesn't respond, simply tending to her lunch once more. She plucks at the boxed lunch, not eating most of it. I pull a piece of chicken from the box, slipping it into my mouth and grinning at the flavor. The rooftop lunch passes very quietly, only filled with the occasional sigh of relief or inhaling of air from Emi.

When the lunch bell rings across the campus, Emi pulls over our boxes and frowns into Rin's.

"If you don't eat your lunch, you're going to fade away!" Emi chastises Rin.

Shrugging in response, Rin slides out from the table. "Would that really be so bad?" She says to the air, walking to the staircase and downstairs to class, I think. Maybe she's off to do more drugs.

I say more because she is too mellow to not be on... something.

Emi picks up the boxes of lunch, tossing them into her bag, "Was it good, Hisao~?" She leans forwards on her... legs, hands behind her back.

"The food was great! Did you, ah, did you make it yourself?"

"I did!" She grins widely, "Hopefully Rin didn't, like, scare you off or something. She is a bit weird, but she's great once you get to know her. The staff thought it would be funny to make a whole."

"A whole?"

"Y'know... I don't have legs, she doesn't have arms; put us together, and you've got a suit~! Plus, she ah, needed help getting dressed a lot of the time. Shirts aren't her friend."

"I could've figured... I'll be off now though, so I don't miss class. I'll see you around." I wave over my shoulder as I make my way to the door.

She calls out quickly, "I've got a track meet, during the festival! You should come see it~! Don't blow yourself up on all the food, though - I'll know!"

"Oh, I think the Newspaper Club was already planning on going to that, I could be wrong," I wave over my shoulder as I step out of the door and down to my afternoon classes. Those pass just as boringly as the rest, Naomi in a rut because of Natsume's absence; those two really do depend on each other.

When the final bell hits, time seems to lurch back into motion, the classroom droll finally having suspended itself for another few hours.

Naomi and I make our way to the club room, slipping into the room silently. Ayao remains in the same corner as usual, writing away on whatever subject it is she... writes.

We both take a seat at a computer, but Naomi takes a pointedly obvious bit of special care to not watch much, "Ah, sorry. I forgot my glasses today."

I guess the obvious is that she has those... seizures often. Often enough to stress about them, at least.

"Hey, Ayao, is this fine here?" I motion her to the computer, the final draft of the newspaper issue flat against the print preview screen.

"That will do, yeah." She pulls herself back up onto the nearby counter, diving back into the little black notebook.

Slotting the roll of paper from yesterday into the massive printer, I glance to Naomi who then glances to Ayao, "Start the printer for u-" Ayao pops down from the counter, quickly keying in the commands and parameters for the newspapers.

"There. That's all we really need to do."

Naomi and I both glance at the finished newspapers, watching as they roll off the printer into a stack.

"Here, Hisao, you take the first page." Naomi smiles warmly, pulling it out from the stack and flipping it through the air.

The smell of freshly printed ink on paper fills the room with an acrid stench. Ayao continues working, a smile crossing her lips as she does.

I take the paper hesitantly, mumbling a "Thanks," in response.

Naomi simply laughs, placing her palms against the top of the printer. We both silently watch the papers as they flop onto the pile.

When I push my hands into their pockets, Naomi pipes up in the somewhat discomforting silence. "Are you hyped for the festival?"

"I know I'm not," Ayao calls out from the corner.

Naomi pulls a scrap paper from the table next to the printer, balling it up and tossing it across the room towards Ayao. Instead of letting it hit her, Ayao swipes it out of the air and smugly grins. She dives back into her notebook within moments of this exchange.

"As I was saying…"

I shake to attention. "Oh, yeah. It'll be interesting to see the fruits of everyone's labors."

"That's great, great~!"

Thinking back to Natsume's information, I add on, "Are we going to need anyone watching the stands or something?"

A solid thump followed by a sharp "Shit!" comes from Ayao's corner; when I turn to glance at the source, Ayao has her hand still in the air, in mid fist pump.

"What?" Ayao blinks a few times. Naomi sighs, followed by Ayao throwing her other hand up in the air. "You got me, officer, on charges I could never disapprove of."

"... What?" I blurt out.

Ayao grins, laughing at the air, "I was the one assigned to the stands for the beginning of the festival by default!"

Naomi sighs, "Just because Hisao asks a question doesn't mean you're off the hook."

"... Right."

"And besides, why would I make him watch the stand? This is his first week."

"... Right."

"And why are you still celebrating?"

"... Rig-Oh." She drops her hands from the air, crossing them over her lap, "I, uh. I forgot. Oops."

The printer begins beeping violently, Naomi pushes the off button quickly, pulling the now empty roll from the machine. Tossing it in the corner, into a small stack, she turns on her heel and grabs her bag.

"Ayao, organize the papers onto the rack for me, our job is done today~!" She nudges me in the side, "Let's go check on Natsume, before curfew hits."

"Sounds great, just a moment though." I grab my bag from the counter, holding the newspaper in my hand as I pull the bag over my shoulder, "Lead the way."

As we step out of the room, the door shuts with a click, Ayao glancing out the side window as it does, "Ignore her, Hisao, she's hit a spout of… mania today…" She tilts her head back, counting the tiles in the hallway's ceiling under her breath.

When we reach the turn, she lurches her head forwards and rounds the corner with a casual heel turn.

"So, Hisao, what are you doing for the festival? Natsume, Ayao and I usually get together after the stall is settled and go to watch the track team, then we watch movies until it gets dark!" She purses her hands together in front of her legs, "You'll love it there… it's so great~."

"I don't really have plans, mind if I join you guys?" We step up the short flight of stairs, turning to the girl's dorm.

I open the door for Naomi, and she turns back before I let it close, "I wouldn't talk about my plans if I wasn't trying to get you to ask that question, of course you can join us!" She knocks on the door to Natsume's room, opening it after a second tap, "Wait out here until I give you the signal, alright?"

Naomi steps in the room, flicking on the light and wading through the contents of the floor.

Numerous groans of displeasure and rattling covers float out from the room, until eventually Naomi whistles at an excessive pitch.

I step inside, a hand in my pocket and the other on the doorframe. "Hi, Natsume."

"Hi." She is leaning against the wall, a blanket pressed against her. Naomi is sitting on the desk chair, spinning it around in circles.

"Did you take your medicine?" Naomi turns herself around on the chair. She leans her head against the back of it, glancing at us as if she's looking over the top of a pair of invisible glasses.

"I took the medicine." Natsume is peeking out from the top of a blanket, her hands folded in her lap.

"Good~! Do you think you'll be fine to move around before tomorrow?"

"Probably." She tries to shrug, but can't and instead just repeats, with a lot more hesitation, "...Probably."

"If I have to drag you out of bed tomorrow, I will 'probably' fight you." Naomi tilts her head, drooping her glasses down and raising an eyebrow at her.

"I'll try. Did you bring food?"

"I've got bread in the bag." She pulls open her school bag and pulls free a store bag, labeled just "Have a Good Day!" Where'd she get that?

"Gimme gimme gimme." She says, starting to push forwards but almost tearing up. She slowly slinks back and points at the bag with puppy dog eyes.

I pull the bag up, and rip open the plastic wrapper containing the bread. She lifts her arm up, wrist rigid and swollen. I cringe and hand her the bread. It's hard to see someone in such a state, even if you barely know them.

She brings the wrist to her face, dropping the bread onto herself and holding it into place with her mouth, "Eheh.." She chuckles through the loaf of bread, pulling it in slowly. Naomi and I grin at the scene, but don't laugh. It just doesn't feel right.

When she finishes the bread, I pick up the juice pouch from the bag and put it down for Natsume. I poke the straw in and hand it to her. A few sips later, she speaks up, "This is probably one of the worst flare ups I've had all year..."

"Yeah, it doesn't look too great.. I called the nurse for you, by the way."

She rolls her eyes, "It's so hard to deal with him sometimes..." She glances to me, "You've had to deal with him for a good bit, with.. well, your heart. He irk you too?"

Natsume's speech is a lot more to the point when she's like this. It's jarring, in truth. Hard to deal with. She changes a lot when she's on a down day, it seems.

I slowly respond, "He's a bit jarring, but he means well I guess. Just a bit hard to laugh at some of the stuff he jokes around with."

"Exaaaaaactly." She points her finger at me, lifting her hand a bit more than the last few times, then dropping her hand to her face to scratch at it idly.

"Keep lifting that arm, Natsume~! I know you want to!" Naomi leans forwards towards Natsume, palms against the bed as she laughs, "You're not that bad, if you're not screeching in pain from lifting your arm for a scratch. Jeez. You faker."

Natsume ploofs back against the pillows, sipping out of the juice pouch and glaring towards Naomi with a sigh, "Implying that the Nurse would ever let me skip. I'm just so much better for little ol' you and Hisao. Sheesh."

"Ohohohoh. Whatever you say." Naomi slaps Natsume on the foot, before pushing off of the bed and turning to me, "Hisao, I assume you can find the way out?" Naomi steps out and leans on the door across the hall.

I nod once, turning on my heel, "Ah, yeah, seeya tomorrow, Natsume. Same to you, Naomi, sleep well."

"Of course~! See you later, Hisao!" Naomi grins, waving to me as she slides into her room. Natsume makes some noise akin to a grunt of acknowledgement. Skillfully throwing something at the door, she manages to shut it before I leave.

I exit the girl's dorm, and enter the guy's dorm, stepping through the dimly lit halls.

I toss my bag onto the bed, pulling the paper from under my arm and flattening it against my desk. I pull a thumbtack from the top of my desk, and tap it into the wall next to my window. With the window open, it flutters lazily in the cold evening air, almost like a cape.

I pull out a book, pushing my bag from my bed as I lie down. I flip open to the marked page after turning off the light. The gentle breeze settles through the room, crawling through my chest and finding it's way deep inside.


	9. Act 1: Where the News Happens

I wake up to the clamoring of the crowds growing outside. Pushing up from my chair, I peel back the fluttering curtains and look out onto the bustling school grounds, uniformed students dashing about and preparing whatever club stall they're operating.

Thankfully today is the day of the festival, so I was allowed to sleep in. I shut my window and peel off last night's clothes, putting them in my hamper and slipping on another uniform, running a brush through my hair afterwards.

I step out of my room, pulling at the buttons of my uniform and loosening them. I peek at Kenji's door, figuring him the type to hiss at sunlight and social gatherings, especially ones with school involved.

I quickly make my way up the hallway to avoid contact with the epitome of a socially destructive human being. I pull out my phone and glance through the messages, eventually finding the contact for Naomi. I pull up a texting window, sitting down at the bench below the dorms.

The smell of fresh paint permeates the cool morning air, floating about and tugging at my nostrils.

 **[Sent:]**  
 _(Hey, where should we meet up?)_

Naomi replies as I stand from the bench.

 **[One New Message]**  
 _(_ _ **Naomi:**_ _newspaper stand, it's in between the aux and main building. be there in twenty!)_

I make my way down the steps and follow the scent of paint, looking at the drying mural. Using the word 'human' loosely, seems to depict people. Melted down and smeared across the wall like refuse. The shapes bend and warp around the wall, coming to sudden halts and unknown twirls. The colors are warm, with odd splashes of cool thrown about.

The entire piece is pretty... interesting. I could never call myself an art critic, but the thing looks great. Couldn't say much more than that.

I turn on my heel, stepping off towards the school building before nearly bumping into a familiar figure.

Rin stands in my path, armless as usual. She glances at my chest, and simply says, "Hi."

I raise a hand to wave, before shoving it back in my pocket and slapping myself internally for the faux paus. I reply with but a simple, "Hi." as well.

"What are you doing?" Rin questions, staring off at the mural. It seems more like she's questioning the mural than me.

"I was, well, looking at the art. Was waiting for the time to pass." An honest reply, but Rin is probably going to find a way to make it confusing too.

"Oh." Not confusing. Just vague. That's fun, "Do you think it is good?" Or not vague. Just questioning.

She shifts her gaze from the mural to my chest again, "I think it looks great, personally."

"Why?" She shifts back to the mural again.

"...Because it just does? It looks good."

"..." She remains wholly silent, before puncturing the silence with her deadpan reply. "Fair enough."

"I've... Got places to be. I'll see you around Rin."

"Will you?" she questions the air, leaning in front of the mural and inspecting it closely.

I make my way towards the main two buildings, spotting Naomi and Natsume under a bench, chatting casually.

When I approach, they both turn and hush their conversation with a few hand gestures and shrugs.

"Hey, when's the track meet happening?"

"In about half an hour, we need to go make sure Ayao didn't burn down the newspaper stand though." Natsume pushes from the bench, grunting and wobbling. Naomi stands up a moment after, dusting off the forest green uniform skirt as she does.

Naomi and Natsume both glance towards the meandering crowds, sigh, and look to me, "Here's the time that we all hate; finding our way to the stall through the crowds. It's lovely." Natsume sighs.

"Probably for the best that we get on our way then." I step to the side, gesturing to the side. "Ladies first," I add as an afterthought, not wanting to take the lead in such an unfamiliar place. Even with a week under my belt, the school grounds are still foreign to me.

Naomi steps forward with a toothy grin, Natsume behind her, complete with agitated groaning with the walking. I follow behind the pair, watching the sights as we walk. They talk to each other, commenting on the individual stalls and on the decoration.

They seem to critique quite a bit, but at least they don't seem too hostile about it; they're just commenting, pointing things out.

We all reach the newspaper stand, nestled in a busy section of the grounds, filled with the high pitched sounds of little games and the succulent scent of fried foods flitting about the air.

A simple wood stand, a boldly designed bit of paper handing from the top of the supports. 

**Newspapers Here!  
Festival Exclusive!  
** **  
FREE OF CHARGE**

Lined up on the top of the stand, are numerous shelves, filled with this issue of the club's paper. Each shelf has a little bar over it to keep the papers from flying off, too.

It fills me with a touch of pride when I glance down at the papers, each one endorsed with my name up in the corner.

Made by: Ayao Yui, Naomi Inoue, Natsume Ooe, and Hisao Nakai.

Even if I didn't do much, it still feels great to know people will see this. I've not done much in this sort of field before. It's really entertaining, in honesty.

Naomi taps me on the shoulder, pointing a thumb towards the watery crowd, all dribbling downstream to some destination.

"The track meet is starting soon, we've got time though. Yuu doesn't go for a while. We may miss Emi's run, but that's not a huge loss~." Naomi sticks her tongue out at me, before leaning back and staring at the sky as she walks.

"Naomi, don't fall or somethin-" She flips out her arm, whipping me across the chest.

"I know what I'm doing Hisao, jeez~!" She starts walking backwards, on top of leaning her head around.

Natsume pulls Naomi's head forwards, "Not in the crowds, stupid."

"..Jeez." She deflates slightly, but recovers upon seeing the track come into view, "Come on, let's go to our spot!"

The pair drag me around the side of the track, past the bleachers and to the edge of the woods around the setup. Seemingly cut out of the edge, is a stump and a surrounding bench, made from a split log.

"We dunno who left this all here, but Natsume and I have been using this for track meets since our 1st year at Yamaku!" Naomi sits down, swiping the flat and mildly crusty log with her hand, before setting her bag down and pulling out a rather large, yet somehow small blanket and laying it across the log.

I take a seat at the edge, putting one foot on the stump and turning towards the track. Not a bad spot, really.

"We eat lunch here sometimes, too. But only when it hits fall and cools down. The bugs come out en masse if we aren't careful. That's why we didn't bring food." Natsume adds, sitting on the outside edge of the stump, crossing her legs and leaning back against it with a grunt.

Naomi takes a seat on the opposite side of the log, glancing at the track. The runners have all lined up, and the referee has the starting gun aimed in the air, poised to fire off.

With the sound of the gun, birds fly from the trees behind us, and, more importantly, the runners take off down the track.

Numerous faces I don't recognize make their way around the corner, bolting at speeds I'll never be able to understand personally. They continue around the track, fighting one another for the lead, until they all cross the finish line; shouting comes from all around the stands and the interior of the field, everyone excited that their favorite team or runner did well. We all three glance to each other, and shrug, "Who was even in that race?"

"Nobody I know." Natsume shrugs. "Or, well, care about."

"Emi was in there, sheesh~!" Naomi bounces her leg up and down, bobbing the whole log violently. The starters take position once more, crouched over the line and ready to fire like springs. This time I do see Yuu in the lineup. When the gun fires, he bounces from the line, uncoiling and lunging across the straight. He takes the lead at first, rounding the first two corners gracefully, without a problem.

When he reaches the third, however, he seems to trip up just slightly, his pace falling out of line. He keeps running, but is passed by a runner from another school, taking quick advantage of the misstep. Yuu crosses the line in at second, staring bullets at the back of the guy who came in first.

He steps off the track and towards our group, hands behind his neck as he gulps in the air. He has a slight limp, but refuses to accept it, continuing at his casual pace towards us. He sits down on the log in between Naomi and me, huffing as he sits.

"Well that was subpar." He says to nobody in particular.

Natsume looks back at him from the stump, slapping him on the knee, "You got second, not last, get over it~."

Naomi glances at Natsume over the frame of her glasses, and pushing up off of the log, "You did great~! What happened to your leg or whatever? I could see you trip, all the way over here. You're going to the nurse for that, right?"

"It's fine, it's fine..." He droops his head over the back, only his upper back touching the log at this point.

When Yuu goes to lean forward, he moves his leg to the side and hisses under his breath at what I can only assume is pain. Natsume glances back at him again.

"Nice one. Are you gonna make us carry you to the nurse?"

Naomi sighs, lowering a hand to help Yuu up, "Hisao, support him, we'll have to take him up to the nurse. He's probably broken something. "

"Gah, don't talk like that, Naomi! It's just a sprain!" Yuu closes his eyes, leaning his head back to the sun. I lower a hand to him, helping him up, gingerly lifting him to a stand. He leans mostly into me, his left arm hooked around my neck, balancing on his right leg precariously. Naomi takes the opposite side, Natsume following from behind. We all three escort him as casually as we can, but still receive stares. When we reach the gates up to the school buildings, Emi bounds over, a curious look on get face, "What happened, Yuu?" She pouts just slightly, glancing to me with a tilt of the head, "Don't tell me, you broke something…"

"It's probably just a sprain, Emi." He says, pushing us forwards with a roll of the shoulders, "I'll talk to you later, I'm getting ice or something."

She crosses her arms, watching us walk off with Yuu. Complete with some cross between puppy dog eyes and death stare, she bounces on her fake legs, a constant click following us through the air as we walk off.

When we get to the nurse's office, Yuu slumps out into the chair, using good good leg to push the chair back and lean his leg forwards, staring at the ceiling.

"So, what did Yuu do today?" The nurse leans forwards, "Still keeping careful on the track?"

"I tripped over myself on the last corner of the race."

"Well, that'll do it, then. I did tell you that you're supposed to be careful about these things. I never even liked the idea of you joining the track team. I knew it would lead to things like this." The nurse leans back in his chair, planting one foot on the top of his desk, spinning himself around lazily, "Let's have a look at it, then. Hisao, Naomi, thank you very much for bringing him here. And a good job for not letting Natsume help." He grins at Natsume, who is leaning on the doorway, "Go enjoy your day, though. I have a feeling Yuu will be here a while." He winks at Yuu, laughing casually, "Seriously though, I'm glad you two dragged him here. He's too stubborn to do it on his own."

We slowly nod, turning to the door. The last sight in the room, is Yuu sitting in his chair, arms crossed and head hung low.

We made our way out of the building, to the grounds. The sky is a fluffy, cerulean blue, the sun high enough in the sky to make it warm. Clouds fill much of the sky, making it comfortable enough. Perfect festival weather, in truth.

We all three walk to the first stall we see and then start walking.

"Hisao, are you good at games?" Naomi spouts out of nowhere.

I tilt my head back and forth. "Probably."

Natsume rolls her eyes, and Naomi grins.

"You either are or you aren't, sheesh." Natsume glances at the numerous games and tilts her nose at the scent of fried food. We all sort of gravitate to the soba stand, the line already filling up.

"Bad food is the best food!" Naomi bounces up and down on the balls of her feet, glancing over the shoulder of the man in front of her. The students are all wearing uniforms today. They said it was so we could all look as one student body. Honestly, it seems more like it's putting a massive warning sign on our backs rather than a sense of pride. Pride is... Not this.

Natsume leans back, sighing and pushing herself back forwards.

"I haven't had soba in so long, honestly."

"Really? It's so great~! Natsume and I get it everytime we go into town!" Naomi holds her hands behind her back, rotating and bouncing at the same time. The rhythm this girl has sometimes…

"We do, yeah. It's a habit at this point." Natsume glances down at her uniform. "Probably shouldn't have so much of it though..."

"Oh, hush Natsume. You're in need of some extra size anyways. You're thin as a bone~!"

I shrug. "You look fine, Natsume." I'm not lying, and she grins in response.

"Well I'm glad you think so, lover boy." She nudges me in the side with her elbow. I turn my head and laugh, stepping forwards in the line.

Naomi laughs along as well, picking up her soba and taking to it immediately, eating akin to a voracious dog, starved of it's meal for the day. She finishes her plate before Natsume even sits down. When we all three finish eating, we bring our plates back to the stand and continue our walk around the grounds.

We stop by a stand selling drinks and each pick up something. Naomi buys a can of strawberry soda, Natsume gets cold coffee, and I pick something at random. I ended up with a can of tea.

"We should go play a game~!" Naomi says, cracking the top off of her soda as she plops down on to the bench.

Natsume slowly sits down on the bench, groaning, "I just want a rest." I guess it makes sense that she's tired. Arthritis would make this much walking into a hell of a chore.

"We can always stop by your dorm and get the crutches if you want to keep going?" Naomi scratches the back of her head, hand resting in her short blonde hair.

Natsume sighs, letting her head rest against the back of the bench, "I hate those things~..."

"Well, I mean... I would too?" Naomi shrugs, "It's either that or sitting on a bench."

"I never do have much fun at these things. Let's go get the crutches." She leans forwards, pushing off of the bench with help from Naomi.

We all walk through the crowd, avoiding the glances from those from down in the town. When we arrive to the dorms, I let Naomi and Natsume go about their business inside, finding the crutches. I sit down on the bench from this morning and watch the crowds ebb and flow along the walkway.

Occasionally someone will glance at me with a confused look in their eyes, but they keep walking. I suppose I'm fortunate in that my "problem" is more internal, rather than Emi's or Rin's, who stand out like a sore thumb. People look at them, and they don't have to connect anything together or make assumptions. They just know.

I simply get gazes of "...What's wrong with him?"

Analytics of a human mind, boring into my skull. It doesn't feel too great.

Lost in thought, a sharp crack brings me back to the present. Naomi is holding one of the crutches, while Natsume straps the other to her hand. They're a lot different than most crutches, but you can tell they're made for comfort, regular crutches bore into someone's shoulder, I guess. I've only needed them once, for a few days. I didn't mind them, but I can see them being a problem for sometime having to use them a lot more than most people.

Naomi has a light gray coat, pulled from their trip inside most likely. We all take off towards the stalls again, Naomi with a cheery lilt to her every word, Natsume limbering behind and grumbling.

We stop by a gun game, one of those where you shoot the target with a water-gun, which fills up a balloon. You win it it bursts before the time limit.

"Come on, Hisao~! I want a brand new stuffed animal!" Naomi calls out, bouncing and twisting as she speaks.

I bring the gun up to stare down the… center? I try to line it up with the center of the target, but my shots end up hitting the balloon itself, and by the time I'm even filling the damned thing, my time is up. I let the water gun droop back down and look to Naomi and Natsume with a shrug, "I uh, I tried?" I laugh slowly, and Naomi steps over to the gun.

"Let's make it a bet~!" She glances to me with a grin.

"A bet?"

"If I win, you have to join the Newspaper Club~." She bounces again, hands behind her back.

Even if I was already contemplating it... "You're on. What do I get if you lose?"

"I won't lose! Sheesh!" She elbows me in the side, grabbing hold of the gun and staring down the middle. Seemingly out of nowhere, a glare hits the corner of her glasses, splashing off the side and boosting the tension. She takes aim, and the guy behind the counter presses a button. The second he presses it, the target lifts up.

Naomi fires the water straight into the hole, keeping a steady bead on it the whole time. The guy tilts his head to the side, pressing the button again. The target shifts suddenly, and Naomi loses all of her focus all at once.

The bell rings, and the guy lets out a "Pheew."

Letting go of the gun, she plants her palms onto the stand, "What the he-" Natsume slaps her on the back of the leg with her crutch, "What the heck was that for?"

"What was what for?" he puts his hands behind his back, whistling.

"You're not funny, sheesh. Let's go spend our money somewhere else." Naomi pouts, dropping her hands to her side. She turns to the pair of us, muttering under her breath, "Ass."

Natsume grins, "Let's just go play something else."

She glances to me, puppy dog eyes engaged. She says not a word, but turns around and stares dead on, at a large plush of a duck, set in the corner of the stand.

Natsume rolls her eyes, looking at the back in Naomi's head. I shrug, and turn to the stand again, pulling out some change to pay for my go.

I lean into the gun again, taking aim at the center of the target and taking in a deep breath. When the siren goes off, piercing the din of the festival, I pull the trigger. The water soars through the air at the target, hitting the center and filling the balloon. With seconds left on the clock, I'm still holding the stream steady, anticipating the click of the button. When he starts to worry, I see him press the button.

This is the moment of truth, I tell myself. He presses the button, and I let off of the trigger and tilt it just in time to fire off at the right time. The balloon, for all it's trouble, was broken.

The guy stares at the gun with a sigh, "Pick your prize." he says, shifting his glare to Naomi and me.

I point to the duck, and he shrugs, pulling it from the rack and handing it to me.

"Here's your duck." I hand it to her, triggering laughter to bubble forth from inside her.

"That was great, Hisao~!" She takes the duck and sets it atop her shoulder, making quack noises, before blinking at us and letting it go. She holds it by the neck, at her waist.

"Why a duck, though?"

"Because they're so cute~! All yellow and dorky, it's great~..." She stares off into the distance for a moment, "They're cute, alright! Don't give me that look, Natsume. At least I'm original~!"

"I do what I want." Natsume is sitting on the bench behind us, one eyebrow arched, eyes glossy and head on her palm, "What time does it get dark today?" She adds, glancing up at the sky.

"I dunno, but I'll have to check. I hate not being able to stick around for the fireworks..." Naomi droops her head to the ground, pushing herself back up, "But, I'll work with it! We'll head inside and watch a movie~!"

"Oh, that's a lot different than I expected, but... I like it." I put my hands in my pockets, grinning slightly, "We should get some food from down in the town if we're going to be penned up inside, then."

Natsume and Naomi both look to each other, then to me.

They both nod, "Yes. That, that is... Yes. Let's do it~!" Naomi says.

Natsume just nods, grinning before adding, "Yeah. Do that. That sounds good."

I shrug, and begin my way towards the gates. I fish around my pockets for my wallet, flipping it open and counting my money; thankfully I still have a good bit leftover from before the… ah, hospital visit. Plus some from my birthday.

We step through the gates and down the winding road to the town. The last time I saw this road, I was on my way in. It feels... right, to leave now. Less permanent, but much more freeing. It feels good to walk down to a little dilapidated town at the bottom of a massive hill, friends following along.

It's comfortable. It could be better. I could be back at my old school without all my problems today. But I can try to do better here. It's what I've been served.

It's rude to ask life to take back a dish served fresh.

As we walk down the hill, the sidewalk cuts out and reduces to but a simple gravel path, alongside the steel railing. On the other side of that railing, is a rolling drop, into hills populated by shrubs, trees, and just... green. Everywhere, green. I turn back to the road, watching the occasional car drive up the hill, sputtering along. On the opposite side of the road, an older man walks a spotted dog. I turn to Naomi and Natsume, the pair of them strutting behind me. Naomi has a pair of sunglasses on, and Natsume is walking with her crutches, a slight glare forwards with every click of their rubber bottoms.

At the bottom of the hill, I turn on my heel and sit on the steel rails, looking at the pair. "So, where to from here?"

Naomi droops the sunglasses slightly. "I suppose ladies first can apply here." Natsume's pace remains the same, following behind me as Naomi takes the lead. She marches forwards towards the convenience store of legend.

When we arrive at the store, the sun has finally started to descend, making it's way back down, slowly but surely. We step inside and step off to the side, each of us taking in a collective sigh of relief.

Natsume looks like she's about to slam someone into the ground with her crutch, and Naomi is looking at me with a cocked head, "Are you fine, Hisao? You look pale~..." She pokes my arm, glancing at me from over the frames of her sunglasses.

I lean against a rail, fanning myself with my flapping wrist, "Just a bit... tired. That's all."

I stand from the rail, using the tie from my uniform to wipe the sweat from my brow. I find Naomi and Natsume off in a corner of the store, pointing at individual drinks. I pull a bottle out at random, ending up with a weird blue soda. Blueberry. Right.

Naomi and Natsume end up pulling out a six-pack of strawberry soda. We float through the aisles of the store, pulling out miscellaneous food items and tossing them in the basket. When the basket begins to dig into my arm I call it quits and drag it over to the cashier, letting its contents clink against the rubber track of the checkout line.

He places all of our junk food in the bags and calls off the total. I hand him the closest bill, shrugging when he goes to hand back the small amount of change left over.

Each of us take a bag, and we leave the store, the sun now much lower and the air significantly cooler.

We make our way back through the city, taking a much more casual pace for both mine and Natsume's sake.

When we reach the hill to Yamaku, we all three look at each other, and sigh in unison. We begin the trek, each of us pulling out a drink and slowly shambling through the rough gravel.

When the sidewalk begins, we sigh in relief. Naomi seems to just go along with it. Natsume and I both genuinely long for the moment when we can sit.

The gates come into view; their wrought iron, grey clay, and excessively red brick permeating through the dulling evening sky. We make our way through the crowds, which are all surging through the grounds at this point. The dorms, thankfully, are filled with nothing but the stray student-parent pair, chattering within their own little bubbles as we pass by. Stepping through the door to Naomi's room, I glance about.

Even if the reasoning for being here is pure, there will forever be something... interesting about being alone, in a room, with two girls and nobody else around.

I sit down on the floor, leaning my back into the frame of the bed with a groan. I set my bag on the floor next to me, and the pair both step over to Natsume's room, closing the door and coming back, moments later in casual clothes.

The room is clean, with a rather massive LCD TV placed atop a dresser. A desk is in the corner, littered with papers and books. The wall opposite the door is lined with newspaper clippings on cork board. A few pictures line the walls.

Sweat pants and a corny sweater for Natsume, baggy shorts and a tank top for Naomi. They both sit down atop the bed, lying down towards the television at the front of the room. Naomi pulls a remote from the inside the blankets, flipping on the TV and cycling to the DVD player. She glances to the closet, and pulls a small stack of films from it.

"I... Have an acquired taste for black and white films. No reason." She casually taps her free hand on the side of her glasses, "No reason at all~!" She pulls a movie from the middle of the stack, not even looking at the cover before sliding the disc into the ajar tray.

The film boots up, straight to the content: no ads or start menu, beginning credits skipped. When it starts, the film is in grainy black and white, sepia at times. It's an old movie, some romance about a royal samurai's daughter getting into an affair with a common man, and all the strife that arose because of it. Kinda corny, but I've heard of it before.

Powering through the movie, Naomi looks down over the bed at me, and pokes me, pointing to the window. The curtains are slightly shut, but from the angle I'm at, I can see through the crack.

The sky bursts alight, popping and crackling violently, shots of color bursting across the midnight blue sky. Naomi grins wistfully when I turn back, "It always seems so beautiful, judging from just the looks on people's faces. Someday I'd love to see a show, in honesty. But the seizures don't help that dream very much. " Natsume wakes up a few moments later, the sound of the crackling and popping serving as a distant alarm clock.

Yawning and stretching, she blinks at the pair of us, lifting an eyebrow. She watches the show from the window, silently. When it ends, she slowly slinks back into the same position she was in before; crumpled up in a ball of Natsume.

Naomi laughs, pushing herself back against the wall, clicking play on the TV again, "She can sleep in any position, sure, but she'll be feeling that tomorrow~!" She keeps laughing, piping up when the video stops loading and starts playing.

The movie continues, the sound of Natsume nearly snoring in the background. When the movie ends, I pull a candy bar from the bag next to me and peel it open. Naomi pushes from the bed, slipping another movie from the inside of the stack and sliding it in the tray, setting the last movie down without a second thought, "Now that Natsume is asleep, we can get into the real cinema~!" She sits back down, and the movie loads up soon after. Godzilla plays.

I start losing time from the movie, at first just a bit of the beginning credits, nothing really... major, then I miss a few punches thrown by Godzilla, then an entire fight, and then… the rest of the movie. And the night.


	10. Act 2: Yellow Scandal

I wake up, my head against the floor and a scarlet blanket thrown across my frame. I hear the sound of gentle breathing and the sound of near snoring. A draft is going through the room, flipping the curtains about.

I guess the movie wasn't too great. Or it was so good it moved me to cry myself to sleep.

...I doubt the latter.

When I look up at the bed, Naomi is in the same position as she was last night, sitting up against the wall with a pillow behind her head and a small pile of snacks next to her.

Natsume is basically the opposite. From the lower chest up, she's on the bed.

The rest of Natsume is dangling on the side of the bed, head of hair draping across her face.

Prooobably not the most comfortable thing...

I stand up, flipping the blanket onto the bed. I turn on the lights and turn off the TV, which was on a loop of that movie from last night. I close the window, and step out, tentatively, into the halls.

When it clicks, it clicks slowly at first, but realization hits me all the harder.

...I'm a _guy_ … in the _girl's_ dorm. There will be repercussions, both socially and scholarly if I'm caught in here. I doubt the excuse of, "We were watching crummy movies and we fell asleep," is a good enough work around, even if it is true.

I make my way back into the room, after glancing up and down the hall, seeing numerous lights on, dimly shining through the dark hallway. Apparently it's late enough for people to be awake. ...Other than me, I mean.

I sit down at Naomi's desk. Considering there's nothing else to do, I look at the stuff she keeps there. I spot a book in the corner, the colors catching my eyes more than anything. I flip it open, reading the inside cover. When I see it's in English, I cringe and sit it back down; that language is impossible. I can't bear reading a paper in English, let alone a whole book.

I lean back in the chair, rocking it casually. The sun is still low enough in the sky for the room to be quite dim, even with a lamp on.

I try to fall back asleep, but it doesn't happen. I pull out a can of soda from the bag at the bottom of the bed, and crack it open under my palm, trying to muffle the noise at least a little bit. I lick the fizz off of my hand, then take a sip of the bubbly drink. I bring one leg up to my chest, bobbing the whole chair lazily as I drink it.

One misplaced creak sends Natsume off of the bed, and into a heap at the bottom of the bed, groaning in pain.

"What the he-" She glances at me and tilts her head to the side, pulling the hoodie a bit more around herself, "Oh, uh... Did you fall asleep too?"

I stare at her, and then point to the clock.

"Oh." She nods slowly, and creaks her way back into bed, "Should we try to wake up Naomi? She's hard to get asleep and hard to wake up. Probably shouldn't lounge around alllll morning."

"It's still four o'clock." I blink at her a few times, placing my hands on top of my head as I bounce the chair, "She deserves a bit of sleep. Surprised the way you slept didn't, well... Hurt?"

"Long story short: medication." She pulls a bottle from the pocket of her hoodie, "I uh, use this when I usually go to sleep. Took it before the first movie ended so I wouldn't die this morning. Not literally. But waking up sucks when I forget these."

I shrug. "Makes sense, I guess." Dropping the chair back to it's normal level, I put my hands on my knees. "So can we just go back to sleep?"

"Probably not. I'm too awake right now." She shrugs, pulling the blanket closer to herself as she sits against the wall.

I stand up and switch the light off, taking my seat again. When I look back to Natsume, she's already asleep again.

This all seems so natural to these two. It's unreal. I guess they're really close, which is well... Stupidly evident.

Nice observation, Hisao...

The whole group of friends seems really close, though. Yuu and Ayao are two who I don't know as well, which can be blamed on their classroom's placement. They all run around with each other, though. Honestly, they remind me a lot of my friends from before the uh, incident.

I pull the soda from the desk, and down the rest of it. I put the empty can down on the desk, making a small, clinking noise. Naomi slowly loses her balance, falling forwards from her right angle posture. When she connects with her knees, she jolts up and grabs the blankets underneath of her, looking at me with wide, and evidently confused, eyes.

"Holy! Wh-what? Why are you here Hisao? And wh-" She glances around the room, and down to Natsume, "Oh. That... Right~!" Naomi's voice is way too loud for the early morning. It flies through the room, and into the halls. A pound on the wall from the next dorm over and a few hisses can be heard from the early morning students of Yamaku.

"Naomi! Shhhhhh!" I glare at her and she boils down, cowering under the blanket.

I glance up at the clock. Five, which is still quite early… but it feels like only a few minutes have passed. I slowly turn to the window, pulling open the curtains and glancing outside. The sun is basically in the same position, which is still, well, high. Kinda.

"Is your clock wrong?" I look to Naomi, my voice a hushed whisper.

"Clock? ...Oh. That thing. It's uh... Not really working. Ever." She shrugs, pushing out of the bed and sliding over to the closet. She pulls the string, lighting up the small shelves. Pulling out her phone, she turns it on and tosses it on the bed. "Basically class time."

She pushes off of the bed, and slams Natsume in the face with a pillow. Natsume raises a single middle finger to Naomi, starting a bit of stifled laughter between the two, "Real rude, Naomi. Sheesh, as you almost always say."

"Pffffffff." Naomi picks up the trash from last night, consisting primarily of candy wrappers and aluminum cans lined with bubbly art. Stuffing it all into a bag of chips that the pair destroyed on the way here last night, she slips it into the plastic wastebin in the corner of the room.

"Hisao, you should probably find your way to your room, get a new change of clothes. You've got drool on that one. " I glance down to check. When I look back up, I see Naomi grinning, laughing in the same stifled tone as before, "Made you look~!"

Laughing, I pick up some of the trash she missed, tossing it in the bin as I talk. "That's fair, yeah. It's always weird to wear the same clothes twice in the same week anyways.

Naomi shrugs, "There's about half an hour left, just brush your hair through so you don't look so… bedraggled, especially after coming out of my room~! I don't want rumors…" she scratches the back of her head, glancing to Natsume. "Too saucy for a Monday morning. If we end up being the hot gossip, we may have to report on ourselves~!" She grins, laughing at her own joke.

After she's calmed herself down, she pulls open a drawer on her nightstand and pulls out a straggly brush. Pulling out the hair and clumping it into a ball, she tosses it into the trash. She tosses the brush over with her opposite hand. I catch it, and pull it through my nappy morning hair. With closed eyes, I attempt to avoid visibly cringing at the thought of the former wadded up brush hair.

I step out of the dorm with uneasy steps, making my way out as quick as possible. I glance around at the walls, and spot nobody in the common room, sighing in relief. I step outside, half expecting a crowd but, once more, get a pleasant surprise, and step over to the boys dorm with much more casual steps.

I grab a fresh uniform and my shower supplies from the closet, make my way over to the shower and start peeling away the previous night's clothing.

When I turn on the shower, a familiar voice screeches out, " **Hey! Who goes there? I'm armed!** " His shouts are reverberating down the empty hallway. Of course. A nice, calm morning has to be destroyed by the epitome of annoying.

I remain silent and mentally flip a coin.

I land on heads. That means leave. Albeit tails was also leave. I was leaving regardless, but I just wanted justification I guess. I step out of the bathroom, letting the door click into the frame before walking away. I head back to my room, put on some old cologne I never really used and deodorant and put on some fresh clothes. I grab the pills from my nightstand, popping them without water and nearly gagging.

Choking them down, I head out of the dorms and into the school grounds. I step through the doors to the school and into the classroom, taking my usual seat.

Hanako, the purple haired girl, is the only one in the room besides me, and she is... well, beside me. staring into her book, ignoring everything around her to the best of her ability.

I figure it's best to avoid a conversation and pick up my book only to realize a crucial detail: I finished the book already.

I turn to Hanako and clumsily clear my throat, "Uh, hi Hanako. Is that book any good?"

She creaks into motion, her eyes going from half stare, half sleep, to deer in headlights.

Closing the book slowly, she turns to me and nods. "It's... fine."

I nod in return. "That's good, then. I, uh, I finished my book."

"Was i-it any ...good?" She glances at the spine of the book.

I look down to it and shrug, "Not bad, I guess." I glance back up from it, and she is holding one hand over half of her face... her, well, scarred half. Her other hand clutches the bottom of her skirt. I turn back to the book, picking it up by the spine and holding it to her, "You wanna look at it?"

She freezes up and glances down at my hand like a rabbit, ready to dart at any given moment.

As if on cue, a familiar face steps in the front door of the class. The tall blonde... Lilly! That was it.

When Lilly steps through the door Hanako goes from cold and stiff to... lukewarm and rigid. Better than nothing. She slips out of the chair quickly, Lilly coughing into her hand and smiling, "Hanako? Are you here?"

Hanako answers the question with a gripping hug, catching Lilly severely off guard, nearly tripping. Catching her footing, Lilly returns to her normal posture, or, well, the posture I've seen at least, "Oh! Hello, Hanako. Is she here?" She has a slight touch of venom to the word 'she.'

Hanako replies with a really low, "No..."

"Is there anyone else here?" Lilly chuckles slightly, covering her mouth with the hand not holding her cane.

Hanako's eyes dart around in confusion and fright. Figuring now would be the time to speak up, I lean forwards in my chair and cough. "I, uh, I'm here. I'm Hisao Nakai."

"Oh? I'm afraid we've never met. My apologies, I'm Lilly Satou." She smiles warmly, and I stand from the chair, weaving through the few desks to eliminate the awkward distance in the conversation.

When I make my way to the front, Hanako shrinks down, facing the ground and clutching both of her hands at the bottom of her skirt, "Is there, uh, something going on?"

"No, nothing worth mentioning." She smiles, turning to... gaze emptily across the room, "Hisao, are you new?"

"Is it that obvious?" I chuckle, scratching the back of my head.

"Only slightly," She says, her tone of voice remaining the exact same, followed by a gentle laugh.

I shrug, "I got here at a weird time. Last Monday and all." I glance to Hanako, "Do you, ah, talk to Naomi and Natsume at all? Or Ayao?"

"...I... K-kinda, yeah..." She is visibly tense, but she keeps soldiering on .

Lilly adds in at the end, "They mean well, I would say. Plus you did say you enjoyed writing that paper a while back!" Lilly adds. "What time is it, Hanako?" Hanako glances up to the clock, muttering out the time to her. Lilly sighs under her breath, "Well, I should be on my way then. Have a good morning you two. Give Naomi and Natsume my greetings, the newspaper was fantastic." She steps out of the door, waving goodbye to Hanako, who stands in the same spot, hands still clutched to the bottom of her skirt.

When I walk back to my seat, she steps behind me, still clutching to her skirt. I sit down and watch the class trickle in. Students start to slowly pour in, but Naomi and Natsume are nowhere to be found.

I sit at my desk glancing at my lazily written notes, flipping through the pages before laying my face against them, resigning myself to sleep, the white of dead, pulpy tree, soft against my cheeks.

When I come to, I feel a slap of a pencil against the back of my neck. Class has started, but Mutou has yet to arrive. Natsume sits in her corner of the class, sprawling out in the chair. Naomi is hovering over me, pencil tapping against my neck. As if on cue, the class simultaneously falls into a stupor. Their act of alertness, shot dead with a seemingly pointless tap.

Mutou steps in the room, beginning class by clearing his throat and slapping the ruler against the desk. Most of the class springs to, save for one girl who's head stays down in the front room. The room remains silent.

Without a word, he writes numbers and letters on the board, creating the bane of our existence; book work. He slumps down at his desk, glancing at a cup of coffee and simply lying down in the pile of papers with a groan.

I guess even teachers can have wild weekends.

_

When the bell for lunch rings, the corpses of the classroom lift themselves up, dragging through the halls of Yamaku.

Naomi, Natsume and I all make our way to Yuu and Ayao's class, finding them leaning against the wall outside of 3-2.

"Hey, are you three dead too?" Ayao glances to us, lifting a pair of sunglasses up from her face, eyes closed upon their removal, "I feel dead. Like, dead. Dead dead."

Naomi and Natsume nod, and I shrug. Yuu also shrugs.

Glancing to me, he jabs me with his elbow, "Must be a girl thing, eh?" He laughs at his own joke, before straightening himself up and glancing at the group, all of which were staring at him dully in the middle of the hallway. "...I like bad jokes, alright?"

We make our way to the cafeteria, chatting on the way. Ayao apparently went back home and slept the entire day, literally, so she feels more tired than she ever has before.

When we all get through the lunch line Ayao jabs Yuu in the side, "Come on, toss your garbage, I want to do something else~! Let's walk or something."

Yuu groans. "Maybe later, my leg is, uh, hurting." He coughs awkwardly. "After class?"

She waves her hand through the air, turning on her heel. "I'll think about it."

He gets up, sighing as he picks up the loaf of bread and cramming the entire thing down his throat. Shouting through the crumbling bread, he repeatedly calls out "Wait!"

Deciding it's better to just ignore… that, I sit down at the table and peel open the carton of milk. "So, what did you guys get?" I ask, sitting down in the same spot as the past week. "I, ah, I got miso."

"We all got the bread, they had the fancy little ones with the chicken and stuff inside. So we all got that!" Naomi says, sitting down. "Those two are so hopeless sometimes, though."

"Who's 'those two'?'" I turn to them, laying down my chopsticks after a few bites of the noodles floating in the liquid.

Natsume speaks up. "The two are in and out of romance. It's really annoying, honestly." She takes a chunk out of the bread, nibbling at it with small bites. "That's why the two are so weird around each other. They're on a "break" again." She rolls her eyes, taking a larger bite of her bread and putting it down on the wrapper, tenting her hands.

That does kind of make sense. Their entire… presence is pretty clear when apart, but together they're rather off. Left with more questions than answers, I shrug and nod and get back to eating.

The pair of them eat the rest of their bread. I finish my ramen, and crack open a can of coffee, drinking from it and watching the crowds roll by. When Natsume finishes, Naomi throws away the trash.

"You two wanna head back to class early~?" She bounces on the balls of her feet, hands behind her back. Natsume pushes up from the bench, shrugging and grunting.

"Sure, yeah." I stand up and finish off the can of coffee in my hands, tossing it out as we walk out of the cafeteria.

We make it back to the classroom, sitting down in our seats. Naomi opens her bag and peers through the contents.

"Aha!" Naomi pulls out her massive notebook, filled to the brim with pages sticking out, multi colored sticky notes flitting out of each side, and a plethora of pen marks across the cover.

"Here, we can show Hisao some of our old stories for the newspaper~!" She nudges Natsume in the side. Flipping open the notebook to a random page, Naomi drops her finger to the page and starts skimming it, pulling up sticky notes and occasionally turning the pages. She pushes the book to the side, looking to me, "So~! This was our first article for the Club!"

Naomi plants her finger against the page, and starts to tell the story, but is quickly cut off by the Student Council duo and the rest of the class, marching in, followed by Mutou.


	11. Act 2: Cyclical Story

When the final bell of the day rings, I stand and give a sigh of relief. The pair rises, Naomi helping Natsume to stand from the chair after the long, droning day.

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I step out into the hallways with them towards the newspaper room across the school. We turn the first corner, picking Ayao up from her classroom.

"Hey," she says, waving to us. "What's next on the agenda for this week's edition?"

The three of us shrug as we go down a flight of stairs, turning another corner slowly.

They've sort of adjusted their pace for me, which is nice. I still try to pay attention to my breathing patterns when I walk places, just to be careful. It's good to not rush as much. The leisurely pace is just... well, better.

As we round another corner and start down the hall Naomi stops and pulls her notebook from the bag, flipping through the pages and stopping it with a pencil I didn't even see come out, "I've got a small list pertaining to the festival. Do we want to roll off of that, or do we want to clear our heads, getting off the festival topic?"

Ayao turns, walking backwards with an odd gait. "Festival, definitely." She turns on her heel, pulling a green leaf keychain from her pocket and flipping through it. We all saunter inside, taking a seat in our normal spots, save for Naomi who's arranging a circle of chairs.

Natsume leans back, popping her back and groaning in pain, stopping for a moment before stepping behind me. "I say we stick to the festival line. Easiest to relate to, easiest to gather info for. Afterall, the entire school is still drained from the preparations. Can't go on some massive dig for information like we always try to do."

Ayao nods in agreement. "True."

Naomi sits down next to Natsume, tilting her head back and forth like a metronome. "Hisao? What do you think?"

What the hell is a 'line?' I mean… It basically sounds like… Oh. Topic. As in like… A line of conversation. Right. "Well, uh... I guess it would be best to stick to the festival... line. The festival line." I manage to stutter out a long winded agreement.

Laughing boisterously Naomi leans forwards into her chair. "Then it's settled~!" She claps her hands together and motions towards the circle of chairs.

"Right, Hisao, this is a little thing we call the 'Circle.'" Natsume sits down in her own chair, a rolling office chair with a massive pile of blankets underneath her and a pillow casually supporting her head. "It sounds really deep and intense, but it's not. We all just go in a circle. The first person shares a story, then the next comments on it and such while the first takes notes." She makes a counter clockwise circle in the air. "When it reaches the first once more, the next person throws out a story idea. It continues until we've all gone on both ends."

Naomi opens her notebook, pulling one foot up to the first bar on the chair, resting her papers against the now angled knee. She pulls the cap off her pen, angling it towards Natsume. "You'll go first, then~!"

I look around the group, and each of them look prepared.

I probably don't, considering I'm greener than grass right about now...

Natsume starts speaking out her idea, clearing her throat and lifting her glasses to her multicolored eyes. "Basically, I think we should discuss the effects of the festival on classes and their grades, interview the teachers and the students alike, even the staff. Maybe talk to the nurse, seeing as he probably dealt with an increase in workload due to injuries arising from the preparations." Finishing her suggestion, she picks up her pencil from the spot nestled behind her ear and drops her hand to the paper, ready to write.

I think it's my turn now, though..

I don't even have anything prepared. Why would I, though?

When the three glance to me, my thoughts are confirmed.

I slowly turn my head to the ceiling, thinking intently. My mind grabs at anything I can possibly think of with some sort of relevance. Photography comes to mind, numerous times. I don't know why, but it is. It's better than nothing.

"Uh... What kind of photography would we do?" I put my hands in my lap, and glance around, my response not clicking with anyone.

Natsume turns, tenting her hands for a moment before answering. "For photography, we may end up talking to the Photography Club, see if they took any good pictures of the festival. Probably get something good out of them."

Naomi pipes up. "How will we handle the interviews? One per club, one per class, one per grade?"

Natsume nods. "One per club and class seems the likely answer. As for selection, participants place their name in a draw, pick at random."

Adding on, Naomi tilts her head back. "And for the Student Council?"

"We'll just interview our favorite conglomerate last." Natsume smirks, turning to Ayao.

Ayao leans forwards in her chair. "What style for the article? Formal, informal? What kind of tone? Are we here to prove a point of just entrance people with fancy writing and fun facts?"

All eyes in the room land back on me.

"...Well.. Uh..." I sputter out, "We could write about the positives of the festival, and how it brings people together, when... In honesty, it looks like much of the school is in cliques, but they sorta came together, I guess. Maybe it'll go well?"

Naomi nods. "I like it~! A lot more positive. How would we go about it?" She bounces her feet against the chair's bar.

"Well... Probably similar to Natsume's idea, interviews and such. One per class and club. Talk to them about how they worked together. Probably best to leave the Student Council out, though, since... Well, they always have to work together, for better or for worse."

Naomi nods. "Great! I like it, I like it a lot."

When she finishes, I write down a few notes on the front page of my notebook, noting the style of interview and the selection process.

Ayao glances at me with a raised eyebrow. "And how can we get the opinions of everyone, while still remaining on a factual level?"

"Well, I'd say by analyzing the data. Play it like one of, uh, Mutou's science experiments." I shrug, writing that down quickly.

"I suppose it could work. Connect it all together in the end and all?" She nods slowly. "I could see it work out fine."

Natsume glances to me, looking at my notebook and tilting her head back. "How would you, personally, write it?"

"Well, I'd... probably write it pretty informatively. Never really been much for a lot of frilly language."

"Hrm. Alright." She nods, turning to Naomi. I peel the page from my notebook, handing it to Naomi so she can also place it on the table behind her.

Naomi leans forwards in her seat, looking around the room and raising her hands in the air, doing something akin to jazz hands and a mock seizure, before planting them on her legs. "I say we summarize the festival~! Talk about everyone's favorite events and this year's attendance!"

Ayao slowly turns to Naomi, rolling her eyes. "Pretty simple, I guess. Where would we get the data? And how would we be writing this?"

"We'd go to the student council and pry it from their cold, dead hands~! Only if we have to. The, ah, prying part." She flips open a small notepad, scribbling across the first page she opens to before turning to Natsume.

"I'm guessing this piece would work more as an editorial or column piece? What kind of facts would find their way in the piece?"

"Numbers, sales, maybe even age groups~!"

"And where would we be getting those numbers if the student council doesn't have them?"

"We... wouldn't!" Naomi laughs for a moment before growing very serious all of a sudden and turning to her notepad, marking down the notes.

I raise my hands to the back of my neck, leaning towards the ceiling. "And, uh... How would this look? Would there be pictures to go alongside it? Graphs or charts?"

"Maybe a chart, definitely a photo!" She nods rapidly, marking down the final notes and tossing them on the desk behind her. Looking to Ayao, who is already writing in her notebook at a rapid pace, we all clear our throats.

Slowly lowering the book, she shrugs. "I'll just go with Hisao's idea. His seems the most open to entertainment while still having plenty of work required. And it requires the least interaction with the Student Council."

"You still have to gi-" Naomi glances across to Ayao.

"Eh, oh well." Ayao shrugs, closing her notebook. "Maybe another time? Three articles is plenty~." She stands from her chair, stepping out of the room. "I'm off to do things, stuff, stuff and things~." She leaves without another word, lilting up and down the hall as she walks away.

"Oh boy." Naomi rolls her eyes. "She probably got back together with Yuu again."

"Oh." Natsume sighs. "I thought that was obvious. Annoying, but obvious."

"Sadly." Naomi plops down in the desk. "Looks like we'll be working together, then, without much Ayao."

I shrug, shifting in the chair slightly. "Oh well, I guess. We can still get it all done if we work at it." We each glance to the clock, then to the computers and nod.

Naomi takes her seat, and I sit on the edge next to her. Natsume takes the seat opposite to me, putting Naomi in the middle. She pulls her notebook to her knee, preparing to take notes. "So, Hisao, seeing as this was your idea~... What do you wanna start with~?" Naomi bobs her head towards me.

"Well... Probably get a list of all the clubs and their current members."

"Oh! I can do that~!" Naomi hops up from her chair and bounds towards the filing cabinet, pulling open drawers at random, until she triumphantly whips out a file. "I got one of these at the beginning of the year! I knew we would use them eventually~!"

I take the file from her and glance over it. "What about new arrivals? I know I wouldn't be on any lists for the Newspaper Club yet."

"We can make do with just these numbers, I would say. The only updated lists are on the student council's forms, in their little office, and it's always hard to deal with them."

I shrug, and Naomi nods, taking the file over to the massive machine in the corner, placing the papers on the top of it and pressing buttons at random. She steps back over, letting the machine whir about its business.

"So, we do the interviews first. Should we go around and talk to the teachers too, then? Maybe do that first?" Natsume leans into her notebook, flipping to a fresh page and marking it with her pen.

"Uh, how many teachers should we talk to?"

"I'd say... Probably ten, would work out well." Naomi nods, stepping back over to the machine in the corner, pulling out papers. "Thankfully the list of teachers doesn't fluctuate that much~!" She smirks, sitting down and crossing her legs.

She hands me the list of teachers and leans back in her chair, balancing it on two of its four legs.

I pull a highlighter from the bin next to the computer and highlight the list at random. The only teacher I recognize out of the ten I highlighted is Mutou.

I hand it over to Naomi and Natsume and they both glance over it.

"Oh god, you picked Nomiya. That'll be fun." Natsume puts her hands on the back of her neck, "Yuu will have an utter field day."

"What? Why?" I tilt my head, looking to Natsume with a confused glance.

"Nomiya is Yuu's uncle, and the pair never manage to get along. It's kinda tragic~..." Naomi says, dropping the chair back to four legs. "Yuu is really good at art~! Nomiya just thinks he could do better."

"Oh, that makes sense. I've never met Nomiya though."

"Probably for the best." Natsume shrugs, taking the notes and papers from today and putting them in a manila folder before handing them to Naomi.

Naomi stands and puts the folder on the desk in the back of the room. "Well, we've done a good bit today, we'll have to come back together tomorrow and start the interviews~!" She bounces on the balls of her feet before looking to me. "I'll take today as your... official entry to the club? You sure don't hate it~!"

At this point it seems natural to say yes. This group has harbored me since my first day at Yamaku and kept me busy. They're entertaining and definitely smart. I could grow to like it here. Sure, it's very different from my old school, but that doesn't necessarily make it terrible. "Yeah, I'll join. Definitely." I nod slowly, and Naomi darts to me,

Grabbing me up in a hug, she laughs belligerently. "Great~! Great! I'm so glad you're joining us, Hisao~! I promise we'll all do great things together!" She lets go and has a wide smile plastered across her face, a slight blush creeping across it as she turns back to Natsume.

Natsume grins slightly, pushing her glasses up her nose as well all three turn to leave the room for the night.

When we get outside, it's already growing a bit dark, the sun low on the horizon. When we go up the stairs to the dorms a security guard glances at us, and the pair apologizes for us all, heading into the appropriate dorms quickly.

When I get to my room, I plop down on the bed, looking at the ceiling. That same popcorn -texture as the first day I got here.

Weird how things can become an acceptable alternative so quickly.


	12. Act 2: Interviewing Eccentrics

I wake up to the violent thrashing of my alarm clock. When I look across my room to the window I can tell it's still early morning. I squint around my bedstand for the clock and turn it off.

Groaning, I start to pull the covers back over myself.

That's better. Warmth and pleasure…

But a second alarm fires off as soon as I start to settle back into bed.

...Seeing as I set these alarms for something, I get out of bed and look for my phone. Probably a clue on there.

Flipping open the plastic slab, I look at the next alarm scheduled, titled—Oh. Right. Running with Emi. I check the time and sigh. I pull on my soccer clothes. My meds go down like the usual; terribly. I chase them down with water from the hallway fountain, but it still doesn't taste any better.

I walk out to the track, the air moist and cool. I spot Emi, who's taking back and forth sprints up and down the straightaway.

I call out to her, and she bounces to a stop, jogging over to meet me, "Oh! Hisao! I thought you'd given up," she says, unabashed.

"I... No, no I didn't." For some reason…

"That's great! Keep breaking my expectations, and you'll get healthier!" She bounces on her prosthetic legs, rearing to go.

We step over to the track, Emi stretching out her legs while I go about my other stretches. When I'm finished I pop up and get ready to go - in the loosest sense of the word "go."

I take off at a pace slightly faster than usual, somehow not dying immediately, and keep the pace for a whole lap, dropping back to my original pace for the next half lap. I end on the same straightaway that had been plaguing me the whole time I've ran, but with another lap on my belt this time. When Emi reaches my position, she is absolutely beaming.

"You did great, Hisao! You did a whole extra lap!" She claps her hands together, "This is a reason for a celebration~!" She helps me to my feet, and I make my way over to the benches on the side of the track, sitting down for a moment.

My breath is ragged, but I feel mostly fine. I feel better than ever, in honesty.

She claps me on the back, and I cringe, wary of the fact that this could be troublesome. She tilts her head and shrugs, glancing back at me, "Well, let's head to the nurse, I've got to get checked out, and he'll want to hear about your new record today!" She smiles, heading up the incline to the school buildings.

***

I open the door to the nurse's office, and Emi steps in first, taking a seat in her usual chair. I pull out a chair from the corner and sit next to her, Emi having already started talking to the nurse.

"Right, so he did great today! He kept a higher pace!" She bounces in the chair, glancing at the nurse with happy eyes.

"That's good, good. Great, even. What about you, Emi? Are your legs doing fine?"

"They're... fine." She rolls her eyes, "Why wouldn't they be?"

"We'll wait until Hisao had his checkup. I think your teachers are used to you being late anyways." He winks at her, glancing at me, "Right, so, lift your shirt and come here~," He winks at me this time, a mockingly sultry one at that.

I stand up and lift my shirt up awkwardly. Considering Emi is in the room for once, this is a lot more unpleasant than it already was. She watches out the window, while the nurse probes my chest with the stethoscope, leaving it on my scar for a bit. When he removes it, he nods slowly, "The bad news is that your chest is going to explode. Good news is that I remembered my camera." He grins, laughing heartily before dropping his hand from my chest and letting my shirt fall back, "You're fine, though."

Emi is sitting on the curtained-off bed, dangling her prosthetics off of the edge lazily. The nurse motions her over. I start stepping out of the room

"Hisao, make sure to keep running. You won't see the good out of it if you quit," he says as I step out of the room and into the halls leading out of the auxiliary building.

I make my way back to the dorms. The air is still chilly, and definitely still moist. It feels like it's going to be a rainy week. Probably making up for last week's generally calm weather. I step through the door to my dorm and get ready for class. The early morning goes by uneventfully: I shower, get dressed, grab a muffin and a can of coffee from the common room and then head out to class.

I sit down and say 'Hi' to Hanako. She simply raises one hand to wave before staring back down at her book and going about the hard work of ignoring everything around her.

The class files in, Mutou already setting about writing down today's new science subject on the blackboard.

Naomi and Natsume sit down. Naomi jabs me in the side with her pencil. "Hey, should we talk to Mutou about scheduling our interview before or after class?"

I shrug. "We could just do it now to get it over with."

"That would be... a lot of work for this early in the morning." Natsume sighs, planting her face against the desk. "Guh..."

I stand up and look to Naomi. "I'll ask him myself, you make sure Natsume doesn't die." I smile slightly, stepping through the desks cautiously and make my way to Mutou's desk.

Clearing my throat, I catch his attention.

"Oh, hello Nakai. Is there something you need?"

"Oh, I just had a question to ask."

"Ask away, then." He puts down the piece of chalk and turns to face me.

"Would you be free for an interview anytime soon? I joined up with the Newspaper Club, and we had a few things we'd like to talk about in our next paper."

"Of course, I can do that. Come and see me today after school, and we can work something out." A din sets into the classroom, everyone chatting casually as they wait for the bell to ring.

"Great, thanks." I grin, turning to head back to my desk.

"I'm glad you decided to join up with a club, Nakai. Hopefully, you'll enjoy your time at Yamaku."

I nod, stepping back to my chair to take a seat. The bell rings, and class starts.

As Mutou rambles on about his new topic for science today, I turn to Naomi and glance at what she's doing. In the margins of the scant notes she's taking, she's marking down ideas for the article. It's crazy how in depth she can get with these articles, how in tune she is with the club. She always seems to be doing something for it. It's great.

Naomi looks up, to see me watching her write and sticks her tongue out at me. "Bored too?" she mumbles.

"I usually like this class. Just kind of tired this morning." I whisper back.

"Well, yeah, you're still running with Emi right?"

"Yep. It's my morning plague." I sigh slowly, leaning my head into my desk.

She laughs under her breath, "You're doing what you can to adjust. I applaud you for that." Smiling, Naomi glances up at the board and writes down a few more notes before turning to me again.

"Well, I don't think dying is fun," I mutter out, peeking at her notes and shrugging. I did keep up on a lot of my school stuff in the hospital, just so I wouldn't be woefully behind. I guess it paid off. I already know how to do this and the other material we've covered so far, so I've been able to lounge about in this class most of the time.

"Well, that's... true, I guess." She shivers. "Never been one for grimdark, sorry." She smiles slightly, flipping the pencil about in her hand as she watches me and the board, her gaze flitting back and forth at random.

"Oh. Sorry, I'm just kind of used to making that kind of humor. Mostly because it always seems so close. Hard to not think about it." I lean forwards, glancing at the blackboard before shifting myself towards Naomi more.

"You'll get better at it, I can assure you of that." She smiles warmly, leaning on her hands, "Why aren't you taking notes?"

"Oh, I, well... I learned this stuff on my own, back in the hospital." I bite the inside of my cheek, my head lying against my folded hands.

"Nice! It's great that you kept up on stuff while you were in that situation, most people would have just given up!" Her voice's volume rises ever so slightly, and Mutuo starts to turn. She jolts and looks down at her paper, writing fervent notes.

"I didn't have much else to do, but, well... it worked out in the end.' I smile slightly, flipping the page in my notebook. Passing the time, I start outlining ideas for my article, glancing towards Naomi's notes on occasion.

When the bell for the first period of the day rings, Natsume jolts up, wide-eyed and confused, before glancing across to Naomi and me, and nodding. "Ah... Right."

The next teacher for the day walks in, sitting their supplies down on the front desk and starting the class.

The rest of the day goes markedly uneventful, lunch passing with simple conversation, and the afternoon classes hitting their usually low pace. By the time we leave class, I have three pages full of notes. Naomi and I seek out Mutou, so we can get our interview with him.

Looking for him in the teacher room, we find Mutou nestled in a small cubicle, a pile of papers surrounding him, a desktop computer switched on with a grade sheet in front of him, and a tall mug of coffee, steaming up in the air. Weaving our way through the office, we reach him, and he turns in his chair towards us.

"Oh, hello Nakai, Inoue. Are you two here for the interview, then?"

"Ah, yes we are, sir."

"Great. We can find an empty classroom to conduct it in, since this environment is a bit too conducive to violent raucous and chatter." He smiles awkwardly, gathering up a few of his papers into a briefcase and standing. He takes us up the stairs to the second floor, to an old room in the corner of an out of the way hall. I glance back to Naomi, who is walking with an almost march-like step, humming to herself. Her hands are behind her back, bobbing against it with each step. She seems so happy to just be doing an interview.

When we reach the room, Mutou pulls a key from his pocket, sliding it into the door and pulling it open. He ushers Naomi and me in, before stepping in and s sitting down at a desk in the back of the room. "This is the old chemistry lab, by the way." He looks at me. "We used it to hold the science club, in my first year of teaching here. Then it moved to 3-3, then it moved to not existing." He smiles, his awkward face not allowing for a warm gesture to come across from the half-baked joke.

"Right, so, considering Hisao is new~!" Naomi tents her hands, leaning forwards to Mutou as she sits down. "Can I have your basic information? Name, birthday, education, all that?"

"You should have all that on the file from our last interview, Naomi."

"Bahhhh~! It's more of a formality, to show Hisao how it works!"

Mutuo shrugs. "Next question."

Naomi twitches, turning to me. "He does this a lot." Turning back to Mutou, she clears her throat, pushing out a smile. "How do you think your classes, in general, group together for the festival?"

"Well," he brings his hand to his chin, scratching at the 5 o'clock shadow gathering at the end of it, "they definitely work together, considering the way the festival comes out every year."

"Right, right, any other ways?" She marks down on a small notepad, occasionally shifting her gaze up to Mutou.

"There's the fact that it brings classes together, which is rare in school. Usually there is a sort of disparity outside of the class, a disconnect. While you know those in your class and your club, interactions with others rarely happen. The few festivals dotted throughout the year change that, at least a little."

Naomi nods, flipping to the next page in her notepad. "Right, Hisao, any questions to ask, or are you content with simply observing, for today?" Her demeanor is oddly proper, a heavy tone different from when we started. I guess she settles into the whole ordeal quickly, switching her professionalism on like a button on a panel.

I shrug and lean forward in the chair. "How do you think our school would react to a sudden loss of festivals?"

Naomi nods, pleased with my question. Mutou leans back in his chair, looking at the ceiling, simply letting out a low "Hmmmmmm..." from his lips.

Pushing forward in the chair, he leans on his legs. "Well, we would definitely have a lot less drama." He scratches the back of his neck. "But also a lot less social life. Without the festivals, the clubs don't have a goal. Without a goal, the clubs would inevitably fall apart. That's why the Science Club fell apart. We never had a goal, aside from sitting around and discuss science, which didn't appeal to many."

I turn to Naomi, who raises a single thumbs up, already writing down notes in the pad.

"Uh... Right, and do you think a school without clubs would end up going bad?"

"Definitely. We all need ways to express ourselves, and most people need a club to do that. Where do you think people like our... Well..." He clears his throat. "Off the record, but, where do you think our student council would be, without a student council?"

Naomi snorts under her breath, turning to me and giving me another thumbs up. "They probably would be locked up in their rooms, starting fights online~." She laughs, turning back to the notepad, flipping to a fresh page and watching me expectantly.

"Ah, is there anything you'd like to say on the matter, on a personally related subject, or not?" I add, glancing back to Naomi with pleading eyes.

"Well, not really, but I still do have the Newspaper Club's email somewhere on file. If you need anything else, feel free to email me, or ask around class time." He smiles, the same unnerving smile as usual, standing from the chair. "Would that be all?"

Naomi faces me and shrugs. "I'd say we're done~!" She pops up from the seat and grabs the door for Mutou, letting me step out before he locks it and steps off towards the Teacher's Office.

"Right~! That went great! You've got a natural talent for this stuff!" She bounces on the balls of her feet. "Now we should probably go talk to the rest of the list - or see if we can at least." She bounds up the hall, peering over her shoulder and beckoning me forwards with a wave of her hands.

— – —

The sun is already setting low in the sky when we walk into Nomiya's room. Hunched over a desk, looking at some drawing, his outfit is absolutely absurd, a salmon colored blazer, with navy blue slacks. When he turns to us, he faces us with a polka dot tie, and dainty - and obviously aesthetic - rose-lensed glasses, pressed upon an aging nose. I sigh, clearing my throat and looking at Naomi.

Naomi slowly rolls her eyes at me, clearing her throat as well, pulling the notepad from her bag and facing Nomiya, slowly. "Hello, Mr. Nomiya, we have a few questions we'd like to ask you. This is Nakai, a new student and an entrant to the Newspaper Club. He is here to observe and ask questions." Her tone reaches the formal form quickly and firmly.

"Ohohohoo~! Well, someone's on business today, Naomi. Come over, sit down, get comfortable. You know how I am about my interviews, gal!" Nomiya adjusts his blazer and tugs on the tie, turning to sit down in the chair he'd been previously hunched over.

We each take a seat opposite of him. Naomi puts her notepad on the table, and fishes out a pencil from her bag, laying it on the top of the paper. "Right, so, how do you feel about the festivals in Yamaku? Do you feel that they help the student body, or hinder them?"

"Well, we have to have those who soar and those who sink, right? This festival drags the extremes out into the open!" He stands, plucking the drawing from the table and holding it in front of us. "What do you think of it? Tell me." One hand holds the artwork, eerily familiar. Upon searching the paper, I spot the signature in the bottom corner: Yuu. This is the picture he showed me a couple of days back, but better: More refined, and more completed.

The colors are crisp, and the details are clean. The lines flow together well and form a grand picture.

Nomiya places it back down on the table with a thump. "It's not the best that boy can do, and you know it, Naomi! He wastes time on running when he should be drawing... he's squandering his talent." He frowns, peering at me with an upturned nose.

Slowly sighing, Naomi turns to me and rolls her eyes. Nomiya, flying off on a rant about how Yuu could be a much better artist, peers over his glasses and slowly winds the preaching to a close.

When he finally takes in a deep breath, Nomiya turns to us and grins, laughing slightly and clearing his posture of any imperfections. He clears his throat and continues the previous line of conversation like nothing ever happened. "So, where were we? Something about the, ah, festival, right? And how I feel about it?"

"That's right, sir." Naomi pulls her pencil out from behind her ear, putting it to the paper and holding it there.

He stands, putting one arm behind his back and the other to his front. "It is a grandiose time for the students of Yamaku to come together and work on such riveting projects, to produce such art!" His voice rises over time, reaching a level akin to Misha's laughs, filling the room with his passionate response.

Naomi slowly sighs and fills the page of her notepad with more notes, flipping another page and turning to Nomiya. "And how do you think Yamaku would operate without festivals?"

"Why, that's simple!" He laughs, sitting back down and adjusting his tie. "I'd be without a job, for one!" Belligerently laughing at his joke, he clears his throat and leans forward into the desk. "The projects, the festivals, are more of a rehab type thing, something to make everyone feel more connected. So a lot of the student body would be a bunch of anti-social hermits if we didn't prod you into helping at least a little bit."

Naomi tilts her head back, slowly pulling in a long breath of air. Pushing forward in her chair, she faces Nomiya again. "Is there anything you'd like to tell us on the subject, Now would be the best time for it."

"I believe we are set then, Miss Inoue!" He claps his hands together and stands from the desk. "I've said what is necessary for the survival of our intrepid school. Would that be all?"

We stand as well, Naomi packing her bag and facing Nomiya. "That will be all, sir." When she turns to the door, she sighs in relief, closing it behind me as we step out. "Thank god." She slumps over. "I hate having to deal with him. I suppose he hates the fact I support Yuu in his running."

"Why is he so…"

While I'm thinking of the proper word, Naomi pushes off of the wall. "Well, he's rude, pushy, eccentric... the list goes on~!" She bubbles forth in laughter, making her way up the hall. I follow behind, hands shoved in my pockets.

She's so carefree, so full of joy. It's hard to watch sometimes. She's so oblivious to everything, but yet so aware. She can ignore a critique, ignore some commentary on herself, just as easily as she could laugh in its face.

I'm glad I've met this… group. These people, the newspaper club, Naomi. Last year I couldn't have imagined being here - but I'm okay with this, the way things are going right now.


	13. Act 2: Initial Byline

I slept through my alarm for running with Emi today— she's probably gonna yell at the nurse, but I'm tired. So I don't mind. I've got about an hour before classes. Normal people wake up around now...well, normal for Yamaku at least. I think.

I down my medication with a half-full glass of water, pulling out a fresh change of clothes at the end of the swig. It's become a routine. I took a quick shower last night, so I don't bother taking one this morning. Half an hour to go till class, so I start walking at an easy pace. The sky is dull, calling for rain or just generic drear at this point.

When I get through the front door to the school, thunder booms. The people still outside start to hurry their pace, and the halls are quickly filled with squeaking rubber and annoyed voices. I climb up the stairs to the 3rd floor and realize I've still got 5 minutes to spare. Naomi and Natsume are chattering loudly in their back corner, leaving Hanako to keep herself buried in her book as usual. I take my seat between Hanako and Naomi.

"Hi Hisao!" Naomi lilts, clearing the room of noise for but a moment. The quiet chatter between cliques revs up again. "Sleep well last night?"

Natsume turns to face me completely at this point, extremely clear bags under her eyes. "Yeah, Hisao. Did you sleep well?"

"Like a rock. A baby rock." I shrug, laying my books across the desk and opening to the reading we needed to have done for today.

"So a pebble?" Naomi scratches at her chin, watching one of our classmates walk in-Miki, I think. "Yeah. A pebble."

Upon this realization of baby rocks being pebbles, the bell rings and class starts (complete with a soggy Mutou walking in right after the bell). Everyone, from professor to student, is showing that the weather is getting to them. Class drags on until lunch, when the bell seemingly rips everyone from this complacent lull and awakens them for...food. I guess.

I sit down and lean forward in my hand. Naomi lets out a slow shrug as she drinks from a bright and colorful can, flashes of red and purple streaking across it, "Today's going so slooooow."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious." Natsume leans into the cafeteria table, onto her elbows, "Is there much else to do this week?"

"Not really~! Hisao and I basically have the whole thing down, which is great!" On the tip of Naomi's words, the cafeteria bell rings, and the three of us shrug in near unison, standing up and walking towards our class.

Natsume slides through the cafeteria door, waiting for Naomi and I to catch up.

"You should take Hisao to the city this weekend since you're free, Naomi." Natsume lets the door close, falling back to a student I don't recognize. They catch it and glare forward at us, but turn back to the cafeteria. Oblivious, she continues talking, "He's not seen the city yet, and you just got your prescription updated on those glasses of yours. It's a perfect time."

"I dunno, I was thinking of catching up on my reading this weekend."

When the bell rings, restarting class with a dull slam, the rest of afternoon classes pass the same as the morning. Of course, as soon as the bell letting out classes rings, the rain starts to calm down and give way to grey skies.

We all make our way to the Newspaper Room, picking up Ayao along the way. Naomi unlocks the door and dumps out her bag onto the round table in the corner, flooding it with miscellaneous papers and different knick-knacks, anything from a hairbrush to a piece of what looks like an apple core.

"Right! Let's…ahaha…get started then!" She slowly picks out anything not related to the news article, bubbling with laughter under her breath, "I uh, didn't realize I had so much stuff in my bag…"

I can almost feel the embarrassment. When she finishes gathering all the... stuff... up, back into her bag, she stands back up, straight and proud, "Right, now we can actually start!" She coughs.

She gathers up all of the papers, categorizing them by the weight of their importance and the actual subject they pertain to. By the time she finishes, it looks like some ridiculous reworking of a game of solitaire, featuring papers and sticky notes instead of playing cards.

"Ehe...Sorry." Naomi smiles awkwardly, brushing her hand through her hair. "Okay, so here's all of our stories for the week."

Natsume stands up, glancing at me, "We do this every week to figure out our stories for the next issue. We keep it simple with the sticky-note-arrangements, sorta. This week's a bit more cluttered than usual since it's Naomi's week." She shoots a smirk at her, laughing.

Ayao, from the corner, shrugs. "It's true, Naomi, your weeks for arranging are always the messie-"

"Leave me aloneeeee." She groans, "I have better things to do than worry about the exact stylings of our newspaper's planning spread. Like, for example, making the contents of our newspaper's planning spread."

Natsume sticks her tongue out. "Regardless, Hisao. This is a weekly thing. So get used to it." She shrugs, slowly leaning over the spread to look over it.

I lean in too, squinting through the notes, being reminded vaguely of the swirling confusion I felt back in the hospital before coming to Yamaku. There's so many little squiggles, quick notes, organized into logical thought. If I knew making a newspaper was this complicated I probably would've just fallen into the Drill Sergeant's lap or something.

Seeing as I have absolutely no idea what the hell I'm doing, I take a step back and watch the three of them work. Naomi chitters at Natsume, who is taking each individual page and tab, rearranging them into neat piles. Ayao takes these little...piles... that seem to keep coming, and plucks out individual tabs, placing them to the side.

"We're thinning the slugs out, Hisao. I decide what's going in this week, Natsume sorts it, Ayao prunes it. Then we all do it again." Naomi chirps, turning around to glance at me in the midst of all this chaos. "Trust me, it makes sense after a few shots of watching it all happen."

I scrunch my eyebrows, looking at Naomi. "Slugs…?"

"Oh! They're just the beginnings of stories for the paper." She laughs, and immediately jumps back into the fray, barking and chopping orders. If she weren't making any noise, I'd equate the terrifying motions to Shizune and Misha's stilted quickness.

This continues on, until Ayao hands Naomi back each of the piles she'd accumulated...And then it begins again. It's like watching a paper shredder eat it's own shreds, repeatedly. The piles get smaller and smaller, until eventually Natsume has only a single pile in front of her, spread thin across the table.

"Done!" Naomi yells, making Ayao yelp in some sort of fear at the sudden loud noise. "Oops. But finally! Sorry, Hisao, this part of things has always been a bit convoluted. It'll make sense eventually, promise!"

"Naomi, don't be such an optimist. It took me all last year to figure this thing out." Ayao sits down, taking a long breath. "He should've just skipped today."

"Bad precedent, that." Natsume sits down, groaning as she slides into the chair. "You know how it goes, when people skip class once or twice, they skip class again. The first time is always the hardest, generally. Skipping is the easy way out!" She points her hand in the air like some half-baked anime character, giggling.

"...I guess, sure. But Shizune and Misha get away with it all the time, and they're good students!" Naomi grumbles.

"Because they're the Student Council. They're superhuman drill sergeants and they'll forever escape our comprehension. We may never know how they truly function. They simply do." Ayao chimes in from her relative silence. "Still. Hisao's fine being here. Not like he has anything better to do." She raises an eyebrow in what I'm hoping is a jest.

"Ow. Okay." I give an exaggerated sigh, as I glanced at the clock and the door, "Actually, now that I think about it, I should get back and work on my homework. It's getting late."

Ayao scrunches her eyebrows, "It was a joke, Hisao, jeez. Mopey."

"Yeah, yeah, I get that. Just convenient timing to make you feel bad." A let out a quick smile, grabbing my bag off the table by the door as I leave. "I'll see you guys tomorrow after class?"

"Sure!" Naomi chirps, gathering up the papers, "I think we're all done here anyway. We can all walk back to the dorms together."

Ayao shrugs, grabbing her stuff as well. "I was gonna hit the library, so you guys can go solo."

Natsume glances at me, then to Naomi, "I'm gonna get a head start on the layout work for tomorrow so I can go home early tomorrow. Got a test the day after."

We both step out of the door, glancing at each other with scrunched eyebrows. We step together, in a stilted unison.

"So that was fun~." She grins, hopping down the small stairs as she talks, "How far did you get on your article?"

"I did most of it, I think. It went pretty alright, I'd say." I put my hands in my pockets when I get to the bottom of the stairs, "That was pretty fun though, yeah."

"Wow~! That's rare! Most people just kinda shrug and never show up again when we get to the writing portion of the club." She fist pumps and leans to the sky, "Yesssssss!"

I smile and survey the grounds, now dark and a lot more… blue, in comparison to the morning and afternoon, which instead are lively and green. I'd say I prefer this in honesty. The blues drowning out the greens, drowning it and dulling it out. The flat colors are nice.

Jabbing me in the side, Naomi peers up at me with a questioning stare, "Whatcha thinkin' about there?"

"Oh. I was just looking at the landscaping."

"Deep into gardening, or is it deeper than that?"

"Deeper than that, yeah."

"Aww. Now I can't get the picture of you in a garden getup out of my head!" She laughs, filling the night air with the reverberating lilt of her giggles.

"Well, I mean, I could garden. I never thought I'd be writing like this, so gardening doesn't seem so farfetched now."

She sticks her tongue out, jabbing me in the side and winking, "It's not that bad, isn't it?"

"Oh, no, it's great," I turn to her as we make our way across the open field, "I'm enjoying it a lot."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it! I was worried you thought I was bad company~!" She laughs belligerently again, facing the sky, "You're red, by the way."

"Red?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Nothing, nothing. Just keep your eyes on the prize, Hisao~."

I realize, at this point, that I'm staring at Naomi as we walk. I quickly fix myself and watch the sidewalk, cheeks flaring up.

"That's what I meant." She pokes me in the cheek and laughs again, the air seeming empty when she stops, "This is fun. We should do this more often." She steps up the stairs to the dorms, walking over to the girl's building. Opening the door, Naomi peers over her shoulder at me, "I'll cya tomorrow, Hisao." I glance down at the door handle, opening it with a slow forming grin, and make my way to my dorm…That was nice.

"We should do this more often." Naomi's words flash through my head at random. I'm probably just looking too far into things.


End file.
